Squall Leonhart and the Boy Who Lived
by ShizukaSelphie
Summary: After defeating Ultimecia, Selphie, with the help of Dr. Odine and Rinoa, discovers a portal to another dimension. But what kind of mysterious and magical world will the portal lead them to? FF8Harry Potter crossover. Recently updated for Book 6
1. Selphie's Great Discovery

**Squall Leonhart and the Boy Who Lived**

Disclaimer: This covers the whole story. I don't own anything Final Fantasy or Harry Potter. I just own this idea

Chapter 1: Selphie's Great Discovery

"Squall! SQUALL!" A chipper voice called down the hall. Squall looked over his shoulder to see the cheerful Zell Dincht approaching. He turned around and rolled his eyes to himself, sure that this was about hotdogs or something like that.

"Hey, Zell," he said as his friend approached. He noticed Zell was exceptionally out of breath and his face was beet red. He gave Squall a bright smile, putting his hand on his shoulder to catch his breath.

"Selphie did it," he finally announced.

"Did what?" Squall asked in his typical bored voice.

"Her great discovery..." Zell looked at him like he was nuts not to understand what he meant.

"What the hell?"

Zell looked down and shook his head (he was always very animated with his emotions like that, unlike the monotonous Squall). "For being Commander all that time, you sure can be an idiot. Selphie's been researching the possibility of other worlds outside our own since Time Compression. She's only told you about 500 times."

"Once again, what the hell? Selphie researching something besides the next school function? Since when did this happen?"

"Since after we fought Ultimecia! Geez, I already told you. After Time Compression happened, Selphie became very interested in the theory that there are other sorts of 'worlds' outside of ours."

"Like planets, you mean?" Squall questioned in an aggravated voice. He didn't like feeling stupid, so this conversation was going nowhere, fast, in his opinion.

"NO! Like... 'worlds'. Like, if we could make a portal, instead of time traveling, we would end up in an entire different dimension or something. Well, I know something like that doesn't sound like something Selphie would get interested in, but she and Dr. Odine had a talk after we came back and he told her he had found evidence of other worlds through his Sorceress research. He said it was possible that if we could travel through time and experience Time Compression, we could definitely find these other worlds and travel to and in them."

Squall looked half-lost and half-amazed. Half-lost because this sounded like a lot of B.S. to him and half-amazed because of how intelligent Zell was sounding. "Oh," was all he managed to say.

"So, the big announcement is, Selphie's done it! With Dr. Odine's and Rinoa's help, she's found one, _and_ how to make a portal to get in!" Zell cried happily. Squall stared back at him blankly. Zell's face fell. "Don't you realize the awesomeness of it?"

"So, Selphie, _Selphie_, discovered another dimension, and now she, along with anyone else who wanted to go, could get in it if they wanted to?" Squall asked skeptically. "And _Rinoa_, along with Dr. Odine, helped her do it?"

Squall and Rinoa had "broken up" since the celebration party after they came back from battling Ultimecia. Rinoa really was still "in love" with Seifer, had forgiven him for what he'd done (as most other people seemed to do also for whatever reason that Squall couldn't understand), and had left Squall over it. Of course, Squall was still too much of a hard ass to admit that he was upset about it, that he couldn't handle it every time he saw her around Garden, and that he wanted her back.

"Yes," Zell said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. "And now we're all meeting in the headmaster's office to discuss what we should do about it."

"What?" Squall half-shrieked at the prospect of being in the same room with Rinoa, and most likely Seifer, unable to keep his cool for that split second. He cleared his throat. "What? Why?"

Zell gave him a Look.

"You really are an idiot. Cid wants those of us who fought the Sorceress, ya know, us _SeeDs_, well, and Rinoa and Irvine too, of course, to go and be the first to investigate, since we've been in hard places before, in case whoever's on the other side is dangerous. But Selphie says when Rinoa's dreamt about it (that's how she helped with her Sorceress powers) that she says it seems to be just a school, a lot like ours, where they train them to be special or something. Stop laughing, I don't mean SPECIAL like that... like, they do... magic tricks or something. They have wands and stuff. That's what Rinoa says anyway. But you know how she can be gossipy and dramatic."

"Hmph," Squall replied. "Well, if the Headmaster wants it."

Zell sighed. "Only on orders from your superior will you listen. Geesh. Anyway, the meeting's starting right now. They sent me to come and find you. So let's go."

Squall rolled his eyes when Zell turned around and started walking towards the elevators. He _had_ been planning to spend the rest of the afternoon in his dorm to sleep, but he had to listen to the Headmaster. Although the SeeD tests were over, they were still students in Garden until June, when there would be a formal graduation ceremony. Over the next five months, the new SeeDs were to continue school by attending "perfection" classes to, what else, perfect their abilities as the world's top mercenaries, while the rest of the school finished out the semester. Squall followed his blonde friend to the elevators and waited with him in silence until they were in and on their way up. Zell hopped from one foot to the other, like he always did when he was excited.

"Another world, man! Can you imagine what it must be like? I wonder what they'll think of us? I wonder if there are as many cute girls there as there are here," Zell grinned.

"Hmm," was Squall's one-syllable reply. "Whatever. As long as they're not hostile."

"You're such a scrooge!"

With that, the elevator doors slid open to reveal the old gang plus three (Cid, Xu, and, to Squall's dismay, Seifer were also joining the meeting). Everyone turned to look at the approaching Zell and Squall. Squall noticed a very happy Selphie bouncing in the middle next to a computer projector, beaming at what had been an equally excited Rinoa, that is until she saw Squall, and now her expression was blank as she seemed distracted with the crimson runner suddenly.

"Squall! I'm glad you decided to come!" Cid said in a jovial voice. "I assume Zell has informed you of Miss Tilmitt's great discovery?"

Squall gave a subordinate nod, with a congratulatory one to Selphie. She bounced even more, this time over to him.

"Oh, Squall! Stop being such a party pooper! You know you can't wait to see what's on the other side!" she grasped his arm, and continued bouncing, much like Zell had just been doing.

"In fact, as I was just telling the others, that's the purpose of this sort of 'introductory' meeting," Cid continued as Selphie moved back to her post next to the projector. "Selphie, Rinoa, and Dr. Odine, who unfortunately has some business in Esthar to attend to, have set up a Power Point presentation to explain their findings. Dr. Odine, with some of his most powerful technology, has even managed to take some pictures of what Rinoa has envisioned during their studies to be on the other side of the portal. They will be shown at the end of the presentation. Any questions before we begin?"

Quistis raised her hand. "Headmaster, how many of us will be traveling to the other side of the portal?"

"I will have some guidance in the matter, but I have decided to leave it up to Selphie to choose the ones to accompany her on her journey. However, Dr. Odine has strongly advised that no more then seven go. He says any more and we might make a hostile impression to those on the other side. Dr. Odine himself will not be accompanying Selphie, as he has equally important matters to take care of in Esthar. Very busy man, you know. It's wonderful that he even took the time out of his schedule to help Selphie make her discovery so fast..."

Everyone started looking bored. Quistis almost wished she hadn't said anything. "Well, Cid, I think its time to start the show!" Selphie broke the silence, bubbling with happiness. "Zell, get the lights, please. Rinoa, if you don't mind controlling the computer..."

Zell flicked the light switch so that it was relatively dark in the room, and Rinoa scurried behind Cid's desk, where a laptop had been placed. She clicked a few times and said, "Ready, Selphie."

"Woo-hoo! Okay, everyone! Make sure you pay attention. This whole thing's a little confusing."

Suddenly, cheery music started playing and an image appeared on a white pull-down screen that was hardly used in the Headmaster's office. "Garden's Greatest Achievement" was the presentation's title, and there was a clip art picture of a clock in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

"Deciding to start this project was a difficult task, despite what many of you may think," Selphie started saying, and Squall realized she was reading from an index card. Rinoa clicked and the image changed to that of Dr. Odine, who was very smiley in a close up. "Dr. Odine was the first to introduce me to the possibility of other worlds besides our own when he was examining me upon our arrival back to Garden. I had asked him how it was possible that we had, in fact, time traveled. He said that the universe is comprised of many different dimensions, time and space included, and that our reality can be very different or very similar to another dimension's reality. He told me that, through his many experiments with Sorceresses like Rinoa, he had managed to prove that these other dimensions do exist, and that with the right magic, we can access them, much like how Ultimecia used powerful magic to achieve Time Compression. He said it was a complex combination of both our knowledge of magical powers and science, and was very excited when I said I was interested in learning more. Instead of inviting me to just go to his lab and have him show me his own progress, we both agreed it would be best for me to continue the project on my own account, with his aid, of course. Next, please, Rin."

Rinoa clicked again and a picture of herself appeared, looking very surprised that someone was taking a picture of her as she was getting hooked up to some sort of machine. Squall figured that the camera man was probably Selphie, and that she had purposely caught Rinoa off guard during one of their sessions. He noticed Selphie suppressing a giggle and Rinoa turning slightly pink.

"Dr. Odine suggested we use Rinoa as our Sorceress magic provider because we are friends and there would be less hassle in conducting the experiments as we would all be comfortable with each other. Rinoa was very excited also when I told her about the project, and very eager to help. In her own words, she said she wanted to give Sorceresses a better name and decided that taking part in such an important experiment could help that. So Dr. Odine showed her the equipment we would be using and explained to her exactly how she could help us, and before we knew it, our progress was reaching heights we never expected in such a short time. Dr. Odine says its because of Rinoa's youth that we were able to extract so much information so quickly about the one dimension we were focusing on in particular." She gave a nod to Rinoa. Another click, and a picture of what looked like notes and diagrams appeared. Squall was falling asleep, even with that bouncy music playing in the background.

"Dr. Odine had found this certain dimension, Dimension 12 he called it, the most interesting because it was also the one that gave the most information about itself. Apparently, in Dimension 12, the inhabitants also use magic like we do. This explains why we are able to study it more then other dimensions because of the close ties we share. With Rinoa's powers, we were able to actually produce images of Dimension 12."

_Click_. This time, people in the room gasped. On the screen was a fuzzy picture of what seemed to be a large room, with stars on the ceiling and hundreds of people eating at four long rows of tables. There also seemed to be a table on a higher platform facing the tables, with a few people dining up there.

"We call this the 'cafeteria' image. Clearly, Dimension 12's inhabitants are in some sort of school like we are, as we can explain through other images. In this picture, we believe that they are sharing in some sort of feast, and that the people at the platform table must be some of their teachers."

_Click_. This time there was a picture of people flying on broomsticks, with balls flying around them. Some were wearing red robes. Others were wearing green. "We call this the 'entertainment' image. It seems by this and other pictures we have obtained, this is some sort of game the inhabitants of Dimension 12 enjoy playing. However, it does seem pretty violent. We have images of some people hitting others in different colored robes with bats. This is one of the many things we are eager to learn more about on our journey to Dimension 12. However, it is also something we are worried will deter our efforts to make peace and learn about their world, because we're not quite sure yet why the people are being beaten."

After a few more pictures, including one of a woman turning into a cat, everyone seemed confused but the excitement level in the room definitely rose. With a final photoshopped picture of Rinoa and Selphie standing on either side of a Castle-like building, Selphie said, "That concludes our presentation. We hope you learned more about our project. Any questions?"

"Yeah, who's going?" Zell asked.

"Well," Selphie grinned. "Who else? Me, Rinoa, you, Irvy, Quisty, Squall, and... Seifer."

Seifer gave her a quick nod with a smug smile.

"I know that we can all handle anything that comes at us, and that you will all help me, because you're my best friends!" Selphie continued, beaming at everyone. "Dr. Odine has seen my list of those I have selected and approved. He has also assigned each of you a job and put together special 'care packages' for each person. He wants to remind you guys that we're not only going to have fun but also learn more about Dimension 12. But, I say, we'll have lots of fun! I know it! Please tell me you'll all go?"

No one dissented. "Awesome!" Selphie exclaimed. She started reading from the index cards again. "Each of your care packages is labeled with your name up here on the Headmaster's desk. Please take it and look through it tonight to reconsider if you are up to this extremely important task. We wish to remind you that although it will be possible to access the portal back to our world easily, by agreeing to accompany me on this journey you are binding yourself in a legal contract with me as the project's leader, and that only I can permit you to return home. Please take everything into consideration. You are free to go."

Selphie looked up from her index cards. "Oh, guys! I can't wait! We're leaving tomorrow, by the way!"

"What?" most of them said at once.

"We're not going to waste any time. Dr. Odine says it's important for us to leave immediately, as we don't know how much time we're going to need for our studies and school ends in five months. So, pack quick!"

Xu suddenly coughed. "Just to make a few official announcements from SeeD, all of your memberships will remain intact and you are exempt from any classes you would normally take. Even you, Seifer."

Seifer scoffed. "At least I'll be going, Xu. I don't see you getting a 'care package'..."

Selphie's smile was fading. She looked as though, given her full choice, she would much rather take Xu then Seifer, but Rinoa's heart-shaped eyes were enough to tell Squall who had had their say in the matter. Squall made his way to the desk, picked up his own package, and proceeded to the elevator.

"Where're you going, Squall?" Selphie asked, rushing up to him.

"You said we were free to go. So I'm going. I'll talk to all of you tomorrow."

He'd had enough of Rinoa and Seifer. Yes, he was a little excited to go with Selphie, but not enough to hang around in that room any longer. He headed back to his dorm room, collapsing on his bed to take his long-awaited nap, half-wondering where the events of tomorrow would take him and his comrades...


	2. Through the Portal

1

Chapter 2: Through The Portal

Squall awoke the next morning with a knot of dread forming in his stomach. Today was the day when he would start his _marvelous_ journey with Rinoa and her new boyfriend… who also happened to be a backstabbing little prick. Squall sat up, still in his clothes from yesterday, and realized he hadn't even taken a look at the care package Selphie had given him. He knew he would have to before he left to meet the others, so he could be on top of things. A good SeeD always was...

He picked up the padded manila folder, which he had carelessly flung on his night table the previous afternoon, and opened up the little clasp. The first thing he pulled out was a pink sheet of paper, with the heading, "To Squall Leonhart: Project Assistant Director-"

"What? What the hell did you make me, Selphie?" he thought to himself, a surge of nervousness taking hold of him. He knew nothing about this whole thing. He had even been falling asleep during the presentation. And now he was expected to be Selphie's assistant? He continued reading.

"- and Commander-In-Chief of SeeD."

"The hell?" Squall wondered. "Probably if they're hostile."

The rest of the paper outlined the project's objectives, and what Squall was expected to do in a hostile situation. He was also given his task to research: Military/Fighting tactics and the overall rating of how dangerous Dimension 12 was. He was calmed by the fact that it was laid out in an organized and precise fashion. It made him feel as though he could follow orders better.

Squall dressed before packing. The care package, on a separate sheet of paper, also had a list of items he should bring, and provided him with research materials such as a tape recorder, a camera, a journal (which he was supposed to write in every day), and a few pens/pencils. Squall wasn't shocked to see that his gun blade was one of the recommended items. He carefully stowed it in its sheath after packing a small backpack of his other stuff. He always traveled light. Before leaving his dorm room, he noticed a note had been put in his mailbox. "Meet for breakfast first in the cafeteria around 10 AM. Bring your travel bag(s) with you and any last questions you may have. If you have decided not to come, please join us in the cafeteria anyway. We leave at noon. Signed Selphie Tilmitt, Dimension 12 Project Director."

Squall noticed it was almost 10, so he made sure he had everything, took one last look at his room which he knew he most likely wouldn't be seeing for months, and left after locking it. He headed for the cafeteria, noticing that the halls were unusually quiet. Where was everyone? "They're probably in class," concluded Squall, approaching the cafeteria. It turned out he was right. The only people in the cafeteria were the same ones from yesterday's meeting, except some hadn't arrived yet. "Good morning, Squall," Quistis greeted him, motioning him to a chair besides Selphie, who beamed at him eagerly from her plate of pancakes.

"So are you all ready, _Assistant Director_?" she asked him, very happily. He gave her a small grin as not to disappoint her with what had been his shock earlier that day.

"Yes. All packed."

No one spoke for a moment. Quistis, Selphie, Cid, Xu, and Irvine all stared at Squall as if waiting for him to say something else. "What?" he asked, getting irritated once more at feeling like the idiot.

"We're just wondering if you're going to ask why you're the Assistant Director and not Rinoa," Xu replied.

Squall frowned slightly. SeeDs didn't ask questions. They just did as they were told. "I just assumed it was my unquestionable duty," he answered after a moment. At that, they all laughed. Squall felt his face grow hot but was determined to keep his cool.

"Lighten up, Squall," Irvine chuckled. "This isn't a regular mission. In case you haven't noticed, we're going to another _dimension_. It's gonna be a blast..."

"Irvine, I thought this wasn't just a time to have a 'blast', but that we were actually going to study Dimension 12," Squall said in a calm voice, though anger was surging up inside him. He hated being such a tightwad sometimes, but somebody had to be the responsible one. Before Irvine had the chance to shoot something back, Selphie rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, both of you," she said, no longer smiling but looking rather fierce, in a way that Squall had never seen her before. The others looked as though this new expression was a surprise also. "Yes, Squall, this is a very important mission and we need to study Dimension 12, but Irvine is right too in that we will also do our best to enjoy it. Because you're so goal-oriented is the reason I chose you as my assistant. This project is extremely important to me and Dr. Odine, so I knew I could trust you to fill in for him. I wanted to explain to you also what being my assistant will mean."

"Okay," said Squall, paying full attention as Selphie took her hand off Irvine and turning to look Squall in the eyes. Her posture had become very business-like, unlike her usual easy-going stance. Squall knew this must have been the side of her that made her SeeD-worthy.

"As my assistant, it is first and foremost your duty to aid me in anyway you can, which includes making sure everyone stays on top of their tasks and stays safe. In the event I become incapacitated, you are to become the Project director, and therefore it will be your responsibility to decide when we can come home. Incapacitation will be the result of my serious injury or death."

Irvine shuddered when he heard her say that, but the others, who had been trained with this kind of thought, nodded slowly, watching Squall.

"Do you understand everything I've just told you?" Selphie asked, relaxing a little, her smile coming back.

"Yes," Squall answered. "I'll be honored to work as your assistant, Selphie."

She gave him a huge smile and hugged him. "Hey, hey," said Irvine, tapping her on the shoulder. She spun back around and faced him. Squall could tell that at first this was to get Selphie off another guy, but he saw the wheels in Irvine's head turning to come up with something to ask her to hide the truth. "Um... tell Squall what the rest of have as jobs."

"Oh, yeah! Well, Irvine's task is to learn about their types of weapons and defense mechanisms. I know its similar to yours, so you and him will also be working very closely. Quistis's job is to learn what type of school the people of Dimension 12 attend, and why they do so, how they are picked to go, etc. Zell..."

Selphie gave him another big smile as he arrived on his T-board, Cid giving him a disapproving look but saying nothing. "Hey, guys," he greeted, taking a seat on the other side of Quistis. "What's up?"

"Selphie's just telling Squall what all our jobs are. He's the assistant director, you know," Quistis replied. Selphie beamed before continuing.

"Zell's job is to learn about their games and sports. Zell's report should be interesting, especially because he will be the one to find out what that curious game they play on broomsticks is. Rinoa's task is to learn about their clothes and fashions. She especially wants to know why they all wear robes, it seems, and sometimes hats."

Rinoa and Seifer were the last to arrive, Rinoa lugging the biggest suitcase out of all of them. Xu gazed at her for a moment before saying, "Rinoa, are you sure you want to bring that thing?"

Rinoa nodded. "If I'm to study clothes and fashions, I want to be able to show them what _ours_ are too, and maybe bring back samples of their's."

She grinned at Selphie as she and Seifer settled across the table from her, Seifer running his fingers through his hair and giving Squall a smug look. Squall turned back to Selphie. "What's Seifer's task?"

"Oh, Seifer... he'll be mapping out all the territory we cover. Someone has to," she answered after a moment. Squall caught the slight sneer he gave her. He knew Seifer would have much rather been doing something more exciting sounding. But Squall knew that mapping everything out was one of the more important tasks. "And, finally, I will be studying the psychology of the inhabitants. Their relationships with each other and such," Selphie finished, looking quite happy with herself.

"Well, since everyone's here, let's start the meeting," Cid said, a warm smile crossing his face. Squall could tell that he was expecting a lot of contributions to Balamb Garden from donors after word of this got out.

"Okay," said Selphie, getting back into her professional posture. "Everyone is clear on their task?"

The group nodded.

"You have all packed?"

Nods.

"Any questions?"

Nobody raised their hand.

"Okay then, looks like we're all set. Headmaster, we should probably take them down to the portal now and start the process."

Cid nodded with understanding and rose out of his chair. "Gather your belongings, everyone," he said. "Make sure you have your luggage, care packages, and, most importantly, weapons. We cannot assume the people of Dimension 12 are friendly. Selphie, if you'll please lead the way."

She nodded, walking very proudly towards the exit, Irvine close behind. Everyone gathered their things and followed her. It wasn't strange for any of the few people still walking around Garden to see a group like that with luggage, as they were used to SeeDs constantly taking up residence in Garden before leaving on a mission, so no one outside the group bothered to ask questions. Cid and Xu looked relieved at this, because it was obvious they wanted to keep this top secret until Selphie and her group returned. If they even did...

Selphie took them to the elevator and they all packed in, which was difficult for Rinoa with her big wheelie suitcase, but they managed anyway. "We're leaving from the Headmaster's office?" Zell asked.

"Nope, the basement," came Selphie's quick reply. "No students are usually allowed down there, so it was the safest place to set up the portal."

She pressed some buttons and down they went, a feeling of anxiousness in the air. "Now, we're not leaving 'til around noon because we needed time for Rinoa to gather up her strength to put all her concentration on opening the portal all the way."

"Wait, so you guys haven't even tested it yet?" Zell asked, seeming stunned, as now the others, including Squall, were.

"Not exactly..." Selphie winced. This was what she had feared would be their reactions. "We're actually the guinea pigs."

Zell gulped a little but nodded. Everyone knew they were already bound to go with Selphie so they decided to stay. They knew this was what Selphie had wanted for a long time.

They all stepped out of the elevator, the apprehension rising. Squall spotted an archway where NORG used to sit connected to some sort of machine, the same one that Rinoa had been hooked up to in the picture of her during the presentation. Everyone stared at the archway, which was open right to the other side. The darkness of the basement gave them an eerie feeling, but Selphie bounced right over to the machine and Rinoa followed. Rinoa put on what looked like headphones, and Selphie asked her, "Ready, Rin?"

Rinoa nodded. "Yes. All set."

"Okay, everyone, stand over there," Selphie pointed to a large circle someone had taped on the floor. All the others except for Cid and Xu obliged. They, instead, stood closer to the elevators, observing, Xu taking notes and every now and then and taking a picture here and there. "She must be recording what happens in our dimension while we're gone," Squall thought.

After everyone was in place, Selphie turned some knobs and pressed some buttons. Suddenly what looked like a silvery liquid poured down in a sheet from the archway, so that they couldn't see through the other side anymore. Squall felt the same knot in his stomach from earlier when he saw Rinoa give a small smile to Seifer, who waved back. Quistis moved a little closer to Squall. He could tell she was nervous by her body language. Almost out of spite, he put his hand on Quistis's shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled. "I knew you weren't a complete ass hole," she whispered, and laughed a little to calm herself. Squall smiled back. But it was all just friendly. He had no feelings for his former instructor romantically.

Rinoa closed her eyes as the machine began to hum quietly. She seemed to be muttering something, but Squall couldn't make it out over the humming. Suddenly the liquid, which was pouring constantly but not running all over the floor, began to have streams of purple flow along with the silver. As the humming of the machine became louder and Rinoa started talking louder and looking as though she were concentrating more, pink and blue and green streams began to appear along with the purple. And then the archway itself began to glow and the noise of the flowing liquid became audible for the first time. Selphie smiled, her excitement growing. Soon Rinoa was shouting her incantations, the water-noise becoming louder along with her, and the archway glowing so bright that Squall could no longer look at it. Rinoa shouted one final chant and took off the headphone-like object and replaced it on its holder. The archway was now a dazzling waterfall of all the colors mentioned, no longer a trace of silver visible, and glowing so brightly it was hard to stare directly at it. "Okay, everyone!" Selphie shouted above the waterfall. "It's time! Squall, you and I are going first!"

Squall came out of the circle and approached Selphie, who also flung on a back pack, holding her flail in her left hand and grasping Squall's left with her free right one. She smiled at him, gave him a quick nod, and said, "I know you'll protect all of us," before they took their steps up to the archway. With one final breath and a closing of the eyes, she and Squall both stepped into the flowing liquid, Squall half-expecting to come out on the other side of the archway still in the basement.

The liquid made them feel like they were stepping into a warm bath, although they were fully clothed. They were immersed for a second, and then stepped out into the other side. Squall opened his eyes and peered around. They seemed to be in some sort of dungeon. Selphie looked up at him, an expression of wonder on her face. She looked around in awe for a moment before saying, "We should move out of the way for the others."

Squall turned around to face what they had just come out of as they walked ahead a few steps. It was a very tall mirror, as high as the ceiling, framed by gold with an inscription on the top: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi." It worried him to think what this might mean. Suddenly Selphie gasped, and tightened her grip on Squall's hand. He swung back around to see a short, haggard looking man favoring one of his legs with bulging eyes glaring at him. His scraggly, unkempt hair shadowed his face somewhat. A cat with lamp-like eyes rubbed up against his legs. "Ahh, so some Muggles have managed to sneak their way into Hogwarts. I knew Dumbledore was wrong after all those years about nobody being able to penetrate its defenses."


	3. Hogwart's

1

Chapter 3: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Squall's expression didn't change. Selphie cowered behind his shoulder, but he had been trained for this sort of thing (so had she, but it was more of Squall's personality not to show fear). He simply replied to the now smug-looking man, "We are SeeDs from Balamb Garden. We've come to learn more about your world."

The man laughed back at him, suddenly grabbing them both by the scruff of the neck, something he seemed to be a pro at. "Load of Muggle rubbish, whatever you just said. Come on now. Off to the Headmistress with you."

But Squall wasn't about to be patronized by this strange man who kept talking about Muggles, whatever the hell they were. He quickly swung himself out of the man's hand, also swinging him at the same time, causing him (and Selphie, who was still in his grasp) to fly to the floor. Selphie gave a small yelp, and the golden-eyed cat yowled and hissed at Squall, grabbing him with its paws. "OWW!" he yelled as it latched on, shaking his leg, trying to get Selphie off the floor. He thought he had managed to knock the old man out, but as he felt an arm swing out and trip him he knew otherwise.

"Stupid Muggles!" he sneered as Squall landed on the ground next to Selphie, the cat still hooked on to his shin. The scraggly man was hobbling back up now, but Selphie had managed to scramble up also. "Fire!" she cried, spreading the two ends of her flail apart. Suddenly their attacker's matted nest of hair flamed up, and he screeched as he stumbled back, the cat still yowling and hissing and attacking Squall. As he himself hobbled back up, trying to remove the cat but failing, another voice came into the room.

"What's the problem here, Argus?" a tight-sounding voice asked. Squall and Selphie looked up, and Selphie gasped.

"It's- It's you! From the images!" she exclaimed, her eyes looking like they were about to bulge out of her head. But the petite yet sturdy looking woman with a tight bun and a mouth that seemed to be disappearing before them waved a wand at "Argus", thus turning his hair back to normal, before replying to her.

"I know nothing of the images you're talking about, but I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

But before she or anyone else could say anything, two more people came through the mirror. It was a strange sight, to see Quistis and Irvine coming out of something so solid- looking. The first man that Selphie and Squall had met was staring, looking astonished. Obviously, he hadn't seen the first pair arrive. His cat was next to him now, still hissing at Squall. Quistis gave a little scream when she saw McGonagall and the scraggly man, and collapsed on Irvine for a second before recovering herself. McGonagall simply watched her, looking unfazed by what had just happened.

"I've been expecting you ever since Professor Trelawny made her prediction about two months ago. There are more coming, are there not? There will be seven of you?"

Selphie nodded, looking as though she too were trying to regain her composure. "My name is Selphie Tilmitt, director of the Dimension 12 project which has enabled us to come here. We're interested in learning about your world. We're not hostile unless provoked."

"And I see you were provoked. Never mind it, I'm sure both you and Mr. Filch here were shocked by each other's presence ," McGonagall replied in a very schoolteacher way. The SeeDs just stared at her, not knowing what to say. "But it is interesting that you've come through this of all mirrors..."

As she said this, a black-gloved hand punched through the mirror, but didn't break it. They heard Zell's hyper-voice say, "I don't know! Feel's kind of warm when you're going through it, but there's air on the other side!"

Suddenly, as though he were punted, Zell came flying out of the mirror and landed smack on his butt in the middle of everyone. His face, red, he turned back to the mirror, muttering, "Seifer!"

Seifer, his arm around Rinoa, waltzed out of the mirror last. He looked around at everybody, including two strangers and a skinny cat, and said, "So? I knew if Chicken-Wuss could survive, they weren't hostile."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Zell bellowed, his face an even brighter red.

Seifer gave him a smirk and began muttering, "Chick-"

"Seifer, please," Rinoa interrupted him.

Selphie glared at him before turning back to McGonagall. "I'm sorry to have dropped in on you like this. But could you please tell us more about where we are?"

"Certainly," McGonagall said, and Selphie took out her tape-recorder. McGonagall seemed an ounce surprised by this, but didn't mention it. "You've walked into one of the many mysterious rooms of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is where young people from Britain who possess magical powers come to learn and sharpen their skills. It was founded over a thousand years ago, our time anyway. I assume where you're from you use a different time system."

Filch looked amazed. "Professor, why are you telling all this to Muggles?"

McGonagall looked at him for a moment like he was a jackass. "Because these children aren't Muggles, Argus. They're just as magical as any of the students in this school, although they probably don't know it."

Irvine gave Selphie a look when Dumbledore said "children", seeming to forget that most of them still actually were just 17, which legally made them children. Quistis raised her hand suddenly. McGonagall gave her a nod of recognition. "If you don't mind me asking, um, Professor, could you please tell us what a 'Muggle' is?"

"A term for someone who is non-magical and has no magic abilities," she answered swiftly, gazing at her from her stern-looking face. "But, judging from Ms. Tilmitt's earlier spell against Argus, I know all of you have magical knowledge, and can perform it without wands. Quite amazing."

The seven from Balamb looked around at each other. Squall spoke next. "We're trained in schools, too, to use magic. Where we come from, anybody can perform magic with the right training."

"Where does the magic you use come from?"

Squall held back a groan. He didn't want to sound cheesy, but there was really no other way to say it. "From within ourselves. Well, as long as we each have a magic stone equipped on us. The stone 'stocks' certain types of magic within itself. We use our minds to absorb magic from others or from 'draw points', and we use our voices to cast it."

McGonagall looked a little lost. Rinoa pitched in.

"You see, Professor, where we come from, magic exists in every one and everything. When Squall was talking about magic 'stocks', he meant that once we absorb a certain kind of magic, we can use it only a certain amount of times. When he was talking about 'draw points', he meant that there are certain spots around our world where magic comes out of the earth itself, and we are able to absorb it from those instead of other people or monsters."

It seemed as though the stern witch wearing black robes finally understood. "Very interesting," she mumbled to himself. "Well, then, before showing you around the school I shall have you escorted to Madame Pomfrey's office to be checked over. There we will discuss more about this project you speak of and compare our types of magic. Are you hungry, by the way? Lunch is about to start in the Great Hall."

Zell shyly nodded, and everyone else sort of packed together as a subconcious safety measure. Selphie grinned at McGonagall. She was happy that so far, things seemed to be going smoothly. "We have many things we want to find out about your world," she said. "I guess I should tell you more about the project, though, and how we came here."

"That will be for after Madame Pomfrey's office, Selphie. For now , I would like each off you to introduce yourselves to me, and tell me any information you specialized in at school back home."

Selphie went first, even though she already stated her name. "I'm Selphie Tilmitt. I specialized in the flail. I'm seventeen."

McGonagall nodded, then looked at Irvine, who was standing besides Selphie. "Oh. The name's Irvine Kinneas,"- he tipped his hat-"and I specialized in the assault rifle. I'm also seventeen."

Next came Quistis, Zell, and Squall. Seifer had a hint of nervousness in his face as it came to him. "Yeah, my name's Seifer Almasy. I specialized in the gun blade too. I'm eighteen."

Seifer failed to mention he hadn't passed his exam like the others. Next came Rinoa, who also looked a tad nervous, but she shrugged it off and said, "Rinoa Heartilly. I fight with an advanced crossbow. I'm seventeen."

McGonagall was still gazing at Irvine, who seemed to have caught the Professor's attention, before saying, "Hmm? ...Oh… Y-Yes, very interesting. I gather your school is used to train you for battle?"

Squall nodded. "It's a military academy; we call it Garden. Gardens were used to train SeeDs to fight the Sorceress, but now that she's been defeated it's just used to train SeeDs as a mercenary force. We usually do peacekeeping missions."

McGonagall nodded. "Very well. Argus, please escort Ms. Tilmitt's team to Madame Pomfrey. I shall be making arrangements for our guests in my office. I will be joining all of you shortly."

And with that, she left out of the room's door. "Okay, come on, ye _Muggles_," Filch said, a touch of mockery in his voice. He started hobbling out of the room, followed closely by his strange cat. Everyone else followed, too, but Quistis and Selphie took out their cameras, taking pictures of the room they had arrived in, and especially, the mirror. As they left, Squall hung back a second and looked back at the mirror. He was waving at himself from within it, a huge, unSquall- like grin on his face. Disregarding that the others were leaving and he was almost totally alone, he approached the mirror, staring hard at his reflection, which continued waving at him. "What the hell?" he said out loud, and suddenly his reflection spoke back to him.

"There's no need for language like that," it said, in his voice. Squall jumped back, unsheathing his gun blade. His reflection suddenly laughed, and a raven haired girl came up next to it and he put his arm around her. Squall let out a small gasp, almost dropping his massive weapon. It was Rinoa in the mirror, and the reflection and her were now going at it like there was no tomorrow. "Oh, Squall," the mirror-Rinoa whispered, and the real Squall felt his cheeks grow hot. He suddenly charged at the mirror with his gun blade, letting out a sort of war cry as he did so. The blade hit it with a loud DING, not even scratching it. He gazed back into the mirror.

"I never loved Seifer, you know," mirror-Rinoa was now saying to mirror-Squall. "I was in love with you since the moment I met you. I've missed you, Squall," she finished. Squall, sprawled on the ground from his failed charge at the mirror, suddenly started pounding on it with his fists.

"Argh!" he yelled, completely forgetting where he was.

"Squall?" a voice asked from somewhere outside the room. "What're you doing in there?"

The real Rinoa entered back in, and Squall almost died. She was staring at him as he was lying spread-eagled on the floor in front of her, when moments before he had been pounding on a mirror. Not only that, but now she was going to see what was in the mirror. "Squall?" she said again. "Are you o-"

But she froze, and looked into the mirror herself. Squall closed his eyes, dreading what he thought would come next. But he opened them back up again when he heard her say, "Mom?"

He saw her turn around to look over her shoulder, and then go back quickly to the mirror. "Mom? Is that you?"

Squall still saw only him and Rinoa making out in the mirror, but he realized she must be seeing something different. He gave a sigh of relief. "Rinoa," he said. "I think this mirror only shows what we want to see. We should get going."

"A- Alright," she agreed hesitantly as he got up. She still watched the mirror as they left, entranced by the image of her mother patting her on top of the head and giving her forehead kisses.


	4. Common Muggle Fighting

1

Chapter 4: Common Muggle Fighting

"Nothing seems to be wrong with them, Minerva," Madame Pomfrey was saying to McGonagall. Selphie and Rinoa had just finished recounting the tale of their discovery to the Transfiguration professor. They were all sitting in a group of chairs; Selphie and Rinoa chatting excitedly, Quistis peering around the room and taking notes, and everyone else finding seemingly interesting spots on the ceiling or floor to gaze into. Squall stared hard at his feet, his head in his hands, hiding his face from everyone else. What kind of place was this if it had mirrors that teased people with what they couldn't have?

Selphie looked up at McGonagall, grinning. "Are we going to the 'Great Hall' now?" she asked, excited at the prospect of going somewhere new.

"Yes, Selphie," she replied. "Lunch has just begun. You may sit at any of the four house tables you like and just _dig in_ with the students."

At this, Zell was the one who suddenly looked excited. "Do you guys have hot dogs here, too?" he said, a manic smile coming across his face.

McGonagall looked at him, nonplussed. "Hot dogs?"

Zell's face fell. "Well… you see… they're kinda like sausages, only… not…?"

Quistis, not one to displease a fellow Instructor, looked like she was trying to think quickly about something. "The muddles!" she suddenly jumped in. "Maybe they're something mu- muddles eat?"

Irvine nudged her in the ribs and said as quietly as he could, "_Muggles_, Quist."

McGonagall looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "I'll try to arrange having these, er- _hot dogs_ served at your table."

Zell looked absolutely ecstatic at this news.

"Yes! Thanks, man!" Zell exclaimed, jumping to his feet and then looking at everyone else expectantly. They all stood up also.

"Now I have yet to announce your arrival to the school," McGonagall began as they walked out of the infirmary, "So some of the students might be a little... nervous at your sudden presence. Pay no mind, however, as everybody will be excited over you as our new guests. We hosted a Triwizard Tournament a few years ago, and it went over quite well with the students, so I'd imagine this will be no different."

As they stepped down the Grand Staircase, they were met with throngs of students who had obviously just left class. They stared at these strange newcomers with a mixed sense of fascination and coldness. They obviously weren't wizards, because they were in Muggle clothes, but because they were being escorted personally by McGonagall meant that they were here for a reason. Irvine gave grins and tips of his hat to most of the girls, who giggled before turning away. Rinoa looked them over in their robes, mentally making notes to write down later. Quistis, who was completely enthralled in her work, took pictures of everything. When she noticed the people in the portraits were moving, though, she gasped and quietly asked Selphie for the video camera.

"Quisty, you can do all this later," she whispered back. "It's only the first day."

As they entered the Entrance Hall, where people were meeting their friends before lunch, they received even more eyes as the room grew louder with people asking each other who these "Muggles" were. The students who were in the path of this group parted as McGonagall led the way, greeting various students as she passed. She took the group right into the Great Hall.

Squall peered around at the huge room before him. Four long tables ran longways through the room, and at the other end was a platform with a shorter, horizontal table on top. He was vaguely reminded of one of the pictures he had seen at the meeting the day before. Students were already setting themselves down at the tables, some even eating. Squall noticed that at the high table were adults, probably their teachers. McGonagall turned to them when they reached the end of the long tables. "Sit wherever you like. I will announce your arrival in a few minutes, when more students have arrived. Until then, you may sit anywhere you like and eat whatever may appear in front of you."

The group looked at each other. It was in a quick, silent exchange that they seemed to agree to sit at the end of the table next to them, together, where nobody else was yet. Squall was jostled in between Zell and Irvine, Selphie on the other side of him. Quistis, Rinoa, and Seifer sat across from them. "I can't believe we're _here_," Selphie said, grinning and looking around.

"Yeah," said Rinoa. "It's just like what I saw, too. This is so cool..."

"I wonder what she'll say about us in her announcement?" Quistis said. "Are we supposed to just take this food?"

Squall looked at the food spread on the table. Flagons of some kind of juice sat between roasted chicken legs and mashed potatoes with gravy. There were also bowls of some kind of dessert and roll baskets.

"I guess so," answered Selphie, looking at all of them. Zell peered over the bowls and plates of food.

"Where're the hot dogs?" he asked, looking disappointed. "That funny lady said there would be hot dogs."

"She said she'd _try _to see if they could do that for us," Quistis said witheringly. "And her name is Professor McGonagall. You have to remember that."

Zell stuck his tongue out at Quistis and Rinoa laughed. "I'm glad we're all here," she said, clutching on to Seifer and smiling at him. Seifer grinned back smugly. Squall turned to Zell as he didn't want to watch anymore.

"Well, if they're wizards, Zell, they'll probably be able to get you hot dogs. I wouldn't doubt it if they even taste just like the ones back in Garden," he told Zell in his monotonous explanation voice.

Selphie laughed. "I don't think they can read our minds Squall. At least not all of them..."

"I sure would be embarrassed if they could," Irvine said softly, as he had been eyeing a girl who was just coming in. Selphie gave him a push. "H-Hey! Geez, I wasn't doing anything!"

Suddenly a platter of about twenty hot dogs, along with small bowls of the standard toppings, appeared where the chicken legs had been. Rinoa let out a small scream.

"Did you see that? _Did you see that_?" She exclaimed. "The- the-"

"The hot dogs!" Zell said happily, grabbing about ten of them and throwing them on a plate. The ones he had taken were quickly replaced as more reappeared on the plate. He smeared relish and mustard and ketchup and onions and cheese all over them before beginning to stuff his face. "These are better then the ones back at Garden!"

Everyone except Squall and Seifer laughed. "Stop embarrassing yourself, Chicken-wuss," Seifer said smartly, putting his arm around Rinoa.

"Go fuck yourshelf, Sheifer," Zell spat with his mouth full of dog and bun, spewing pieces everywhere as his face turned red.

"Uh-oh, Chicken-wuss, your wasting some of your precious food. And go fuck myself, ah? Sorry, Zell, I actually have a girlfriend for that."

Rinoa's face fell. Zell swallowed. "That's it! You're DEAD! I can handle it back home, but not here! Not here!"

Suddenly the Great Hall went silent. Zell stood up on the bench. Squall and Irvine pulled at his arms. "Save it for later, man," Irvine begged, looking at everyone watching them. But Zell, with his fighter strength, wrought his arms out of their grasp.

"You're DEAD, Seifer!" he shouted as he sprang over the top of the table and knocked Seifer out of his seat, not taking Rinoa with them because she had thrown Seifer's arm off her. Zell pinned Seifer to the floor and began punching him repeatedly in the face.

"Stop it! Zell! Seifer! Stop!" Rinoa cried. Squall, seeing that his calm collectedness was needed, jumped over the table to the now wrestling Zell and Seifer. He tried pulling Zell away.

"Stop! Just let go!" he said, attempting almost half-heartedly at dragging him off Seifer, who after all, did need his ass kicked.

"Fucking bastard!" Zell seethed to Seifer as Squall pulled him off. Squall saw the beginnings of black eyes on both of them. He sighed, wishing now more then ever that Rinoa didn't drag Seifer along. Seifer gave Zell a scathing look as he stood up and brushed his long white trench coat off.

"If you are finished," a stern voice suddenly boomed throughout the Hall, causing everyone to look forward at Professor McGonagall, who was standing up on the platform. She was staring them down, her mouth no more then a thin line. She turned her attention back towards the room in general. "I ask that everyone please excuse our visitors. That is, if they've finished performing an example of common Muggle fighting."

Some of the students managed a little laugh, but most continued to stare silently at either McGonagall or the strangers from Balamb. Selphie, Rinoa, and Quistis all seemed to roll their eyes at the same time. Irvine pretended to be studying the hot dogs. Suddenly he seemed to have courage as he said, almost shouting to make sure everyone heard him, "I believe we have!"

At that, the entire Hall erupted into laughter. Irvine, looking pleased with himself as Selphie clutched his arm and smiled at him, turned his attention to McGonagall.


	5. The Sorting

1Chapter 5: The Sorting

Ron Weasley hurried into the Great Hall as it exploded with people laughing. He was late because Professor Flitwick had just issued him another detention (failure at learning an acne-causing jinx). He hurried over to his best friends Harry and Hermione. They were all in their seventh and final year at Hogwarts.

"Merlin, what did I miss? And why is McGonagall making a speech during lunch?" he asked in a breathless whisper as he, and everyone else in the room, settled down to let McGonagall finish what she was saying.

"Shh!" Hermione replied. Ron gave her a Look before turning to Harry.

"Some Muggles appeared in the dungeons this morning," he answered Ron. Ron's eyes lit up.

"_Actual_ Muggles? In Hogwarts?"

"Yeah. They're right up at the high end of the table."

Ron pushed himself up to get a better look of the end of the Gryffindor table. Sure enough, there sat about seven Muggles, a few who looked pink-faced from whatever had just happened, he assumed. He sat back down.

"Thank you, Mr. Kinneas, for that enlightening explanation," McGonagall continued. "Yes, students, we have some interesting visitors with us this afternoon. They aren't the same types of magical folk as in our world yet they aren't what we call Muggles either. They have come from a completely different world where everyone, with the right training, can acquire magical skill."

Everyone began whispering about this. "If it were like that here, even Muggles could go to Hogwarts!" Neville said to Dean. Ron took a glance over to Malfoy to see what snide remark he might come up with. He was simply smirking. _I bet he's going to owl You-Know-Who as soon as lunch is over_, Ron thought darkly.

McGonagall let everyone quiet a little before going on. "I'm sure all of you will be accommodating to our guests, as they will not be here for today but, as I have been told by their group's leader, the rest of the school year. Which brings me to the next order of business... Professor Sprout, if you please."

A short, stout woman suddenly lifted up from under the table something everyone but seven people in the room knew very well.

"The Sorting Hat!" Hermione exclaimed, but only those closest to her could hear. "They're actually going to sort them into Houses?"

The room grew loud again with people commenting to each other and their friends. "Yes," McGonagall went on. "Our guests will be Sorted. As they are magical and will be staying with us for the better half of the year, I and your House Heads have decided it best to assign them each their own houses. Once sorted, they will be asked to do the same things you do with your houses; they will attend classes with you, eat at the same house tables as you, and even share your common rooms and dormitories. Now, before the Sorting takes place, are there any questions you would like answered?"

Hermione immediately raised her hand. In fact, as everyone knew she would have the best questions, nobody else bothered raising their hands. "Yes, Miss Granger," McGonagall acknowledged, giving her a quick nod.

"Professor, can you explain anymore where they came from? I mean, how can they be magical and not be part of Hogwarts?"

McGonagall looked thoughtful for a moment, and even almost looked as though she might smile for a moment. "As it was explained to me, our visitors created a portal from their own school to ours through many months of research. They have had knowledge of our world almost since their research began, and have been wanting to visit it. Their leader, Miss Selphie Tilmitt"- Selphie stood up suddenly and gave a little wave to everyone- "says that they not only want to study our world but also _have fun_ while they're here. That's all the information we have from them at this time. Any more questions?"

Hermione raised her hand again. "Why are they leaving at the end of the school year? Will they be coming back to Hogwarts next year?"

"They're leaving because, as I understand it, they will be graduating from their own school when they return. And no, coming back next year hasn't been discussed as of yet."

At this final note everyone was silent. It seemed to carry an "end of discussion" tone, and not even Hermione wanted to know any more at the moment.

"At this time I will ask our visitors to join me on the platform," McGonagall said, motioning towards the seven strangers. This was when most people in the hall got a good look at them for the first time. Ron's eyes fell on the girl in the yellow dress who had stood up. She was the shortest of the group. He wondered why she had been made leader, and why, if they were his age, they hadn't come with a Professor of their own, like the kids from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had.

----------

Squall shuffled with the rest of his comrades up to the platform, aware that all eyes were on them but not feeling nervous. He had done plenty of standing up in front of other people after saving the world. This felt no different.

What was weird was that ratty "Sorting Hat" Professor Sprout had brought out. Why did they need to be "sorted"? He supposed it would be easier for the school itself, but wouldn't it be smarter to keep their group together? Oh well. If it was all part of Selphie's experiment...

Selphie approached McGonagall first, and she whispered something in her ear. McGonagall nodded before saying, "I will now hand the stage over to Miss Tilmitt, who would like to say something before the sorting begins."

Selphie stepped up confidently but looked around. "Where's the microphone?" she asked McGonagall quietly.

"One isn't needed if you speak loudly enough," she replied. "But... if it'd make you feel more comfortable..."

With a flick of her wand, a microphone suddenly appeared in Selphie's hand. Her eyes looked widely at it for a moment but she seemed to shake it off pretty quickly. She gave a big smile to her audience, all whose eyes bore at her. Some bore lower then others, but Selphie didn't seem to notice.

"Hello, Hogwarts!" she greeted. "I would just like to say that I'm very happy to be here as this journey's been a long time coming. I know our visit will be awesome! Any questions you think of, you can feel free to ask me or one of my friends. We've come mostly to learn about it here, and I'm sure you'll help us, too. Now I know that Professor McGonagall would like to get on with the Sorting thingy, but first I wanted us to introduce ourselves to you. As stated, my name is Selphie Tilmitt. And this is..."

Selphie went down the line of her comrades, stating each of their names, before handing the mic back over to McGonagall, who sent it away with her wand before saying, "Now we shall Sort!"

McGonagall stood up a little straighter and with a flick of her wand a stool appeared on which she placed the Sorting Hat. "Almasy, Seifer!" she called, and Seifer, with a smug smile to Rinoa, approached the stool and placed the Hat on his head, taking a seat. "My, my... how difficult it is to sort someone older then eleven..." the Hat muttered. "You are strong... and seek power... but something in your past tells me you are not as brave as you'd like to think you are..."

At this, Seifer's face scrunched grotesquely, turning his fine features into something rather ugly. "This power you seek... you would find it best in... SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table clapped and called as McGonagall pointed Seifer over to their table. Seifer was greeted, warmly by Slytherin standards, with pats on the back. By what Squall could make out, he was seated next to some kid who looked a lot like him, with almost white, blonde, sleeked-back hair. They also looked as though they had the same arrogant personality.

"Dincht, Zell!"

The hat almost immediately shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" without any deliberation as it had done with Seifer. Zell took one look back at the others before heading over to a different table from Seifer's. He was greeted with even more warmth. To Squall, it looked as though the people at Hufflepuff didn't win anything that much. At least there only seemed to be four groups they could be divided into, so some of them would be together.

"Heartilly, Rinoa!"

"Hmm... true to your friends... lots of loyalty for what you believe in... and willingness to risk your own life for those you care about... better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Suddenly the Hall erupted with the loudest cheers Squall had heard yet, and it was only coming from the table they had all sat at earlier. Rinoa was sat next to a few other girls and was crowded around almost instantly.

"Kinneas, Irvine!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat took no time in announcing. Squall knew he was next.

"Leonhart, Squall!"

Squall walked up to the stool, sat down, and placed the hat on his head. He suddenly felt as though it were looking into his thoughts, however weird that sounded. It reminded him of the time when they were battling some monsters out in Galbadia and Zell had wanted to see what it was like to use 'Scan' on someone in his own party. Despite his serious demeanor, he couldn't help but smile slightly at this memory. Rinoa had been there too, and she had laughed. That was right before the creature lunged out at her and took them all back to reality. Of course Squall was able to kill it with one swing of his gunblade.

"Bravery beyond anything I've ever seen... following orders to the death... and a thirst to prove yourself to someone... but who? Anyway... GRYFFINDOR!"

The cheers erupted again. "We got three!" somebody at the table shouted as he came nearer. He was immediately surrounded by kids in cloaks, who gawked at his gunblade (still in its sheath), and sat next to Irvine and Rinoa, both who gave him small smiles. Squall noticed Irvine's famous cowboy hat had been placed on the girl he had been eyeing earlier, the only red-headed one in the crowd.

They quieted down again for the final two sortings. Quistis was placed in the last House, Ravenclaw, and to the Gryffindor's, and Rinoa's, glee, Selphie was also placed in Gryffindor. After Selphie was given a hero's welcome, McGonagall spoke one last time. "The rest of you will be happy to note that all classes have been canceled for the rest of the day. May I ask the Head Boy and Girl to escort our visitors to their proper common rooms and that the rest of you not crowd them so. Enjoy the lovely weekend!"

It was only then that Squall looked up at the ceiling and noticed it looked just like the sky. He was puzzled by this, but he had no time to think as he was grasped by Irvine and Selphie along with Rinoa and taken over to two cloaked people who looked about their age, standing at the front of the room but not on the platform. Professor McGonagall was next to them. "Everyone, may I introduce you to Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, the Head Boy and Girl."


	6. Girls and Gryffindors

1Chapter 6: Girls and Gryffindors

Draco Malfoy was the white-haired kid Squall saw Seifer next to during the sorting. Now that Squall was closer to him he could definitely see the Seifer-Draco resemblance, especially since they were now standing right next to each other. Both had blonde, close-cropped hair that made them look professional (_Professional Assholes_, Squall thought with a slight smirk), pointed yet attractive features, a muscular build, and an arrogant sneer. _No wonder that hat put Seifer in the same house as that guy_, thought Squall.

The girl Hermione, on the other hand, reminded him a lot of Quistis. Squall could tell she was intelligent just by the way she looked at them, and that she was friendly. He wondered who decided to put this pair together. They seemed completely opposite.

"Hello," Hermione greeted with a pretty smile. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Hello," everyone responded at the same time, making the whole meeting seem more like a first day of pre-school then anything else.

"Malfoy and I will be taking you to your respective towers," she continued, giving a polite nod to Malfoy.

"Correction, Granger will be taking you," Malfoy said. "I have some important business to attend to. Almasy can come if he wants."

"I'll take you up on that, Malfoy," Seifer said, giving a quick smirk to everyone else.

"Excuse me, Malfoy," Hermione suddenly interrupted as he and Seifer turned to walk away. She happened to say this at the same time Rinoa whined, "But, Seifer..."

"What, mudblood?"

Hermione looked like she was at great difficulty to hold something back. She shook it off and said, "You're Head Boy. You need to listen to McGonagall's orders. And she told us to take the visitors to their towers."

"Whatever, Granger. If McGonagall gives me shit, I've got connections. I can do whatever I fucking want."

He and Seifer left, leaving a red-faced Hermione, a teary-eyed Rinoa, and a lost bunch of people behind. "What's that kid's problem?" Zell asked, his mouth open as he watched them leave.

"Malfoy's always like that," Hermione said, puffing up. "His dad's a Deatheater, and with Voldemort back in power he think he can do whatever he wants."

"What?" Selphie asked. "What's a Deatheater? And who's Voldemort?" Squall noticed Quistis getting her tape recorder out.

"Oh, that's right... you guys have no idea what I'm talking about," Hermione laughed. "It's okay. I didn't even know I was a witch until I got my Hogwarts letter. I only know so much because I read a lot and one of my best friends is the famous Harry Potter."

As they started walking, Hermione explained everything, from Voldemort and Harry's first encounter to Pettigrew's deception, to Sirius dying in their fifth year. Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, and Zell were all enthralled in the story. It all sounded like the adults on Charlie Brown to Squall. He could tell Rinoa wasn't listening very hard either, the way she stared at the ground and her cheeks were flushed. He turned away. Although it hurt him to know she was upset, she had brought it upon herself. If _she_ wanted _him_ again, she'd have to seek him out on her own and apologize. A lot. Squall hated feeling like such a girl, and he honestly did still care about Rinoa, as that mirror had pointed out. But he wasn't about to go begging back to her.

Hermione took them first to the Hufflepuff "tower".

"What? This is just a portrait of some lady about to get her head chopped off," Zell said, squinting his eyes. "Hey! The people in the background are moving. And she's crying!"

"That's Lady Astrid of Grimlock. She's getting her head cut off because she betrayed a close friend of her's and slept with her husband, Lord Pinkle. Hufflepuff's are supposed to have loyalty traits or something like that," Hermione said. Irvine laughed.

"Lord _Pinkle_? God, I would never get any if that were my name. That guy must've had a huge-"

"Irvine! Stop being dirty!" Selphie nudged him playfully. "As you were saying, Hermy."

Hermione looked as though she suppressed a small smile at being called this. "Anyway, and the people are moving because everything's bewitched. And your tower's hidden behind the painting."

Zell suddenly reached out and tried moving the painting to one side. All the people in it suddenly started screaming. "Zell! Stop!" Hermione said, and Quistis grabbed his arm and took it off the frame.

"What? Then how am I supposed to get in?"

"By giving Lady Astrid the password," Hermione quickly explained. She leaned in towards Zell and whispered something in his ear.

"Pilates?" he said, looking at her like she was crazy. Suddenly the portrait swung open. "Hey, cool," he said. "So, like, I just go in?"

Hermione nodded. "I'm sure you'll find lots of people in there who'll want to help you out. Good day, Zell!"

"See you, guys!"

"Bye!" Everyone called after him as the portrait closed. Hermione turned to all of them. "Please don't tell anyone the password, okay? It's supposed to be kept secret from people in other houses."

"You can count on us!" Quistis said cheerfully. She was dropped off next, but Hermione didn't have to tell her the password as a couple of other seventh years came around the same time and they gladly took care of Quistis. Squall could hear them chatting her up excitedly as they went into the portrait hole. Lastly was Gryffindor. Hermione obviously knew the way well.

"Gryffindor is my house," she said. "But I don't stay in the tower anymore. The Head Boy and Girl get their own tower. Yeah. I have to share living space with Malfoy..."

"So, does that little prick have any friends around here?" Irvine asked, giving his smile to another girl halfway through his question. Squall kept wondering, if Irvine and Selphie were going out, why wasn't Selphie doing anything about his womanizing? Was she so naive as to not be aware of it?

"Well, he's quite popular actually. It's really more that people are scared of him and his family. And, yeah...," Hermione trailed off, turning pink and glancing at Irvine.

"Yeah, what?"

"He gets a lot of girls too."

"Oh," Irvine said. "Well, he's just going to have to deal with a little competition then."

Squall looked at Selphie. She just laughed. "You're so funny, Irvine."

He swatted her butt. "You know it."

She turned a little red but continued smiling. Squall decided to ask her later about it.

Finally they made it to a portrait of an extremely plump woman. Hermione said some kind of password (Squall didn't catch it; it sounded like something in Latin), and they all stepped in. They walked down a short hall before arriving in a circular, crimson room. "Welcome to the common room," Hermione said. Everyone who was in there, which wasn't a lot of people at the moment, suddenly crowded around the downsized group. "How'd you do it?" "What did McGonagall mean you can do magic?" "Are you guys actually going to take classes with us?" came from every direction. "Everyone! Calm down!" Hermione shouted over the noise. "We can ask them later. Why don't we show them the dormitories? I'm sure they're wondering where their things went."

Squall suddenly realized that he was indeed without the pack he had brought with him. Then he remembered. They'd left all their stuff (excluding weapons) in the infirmary! Well, if this girl knew where the stuff was then it probably wasn't there anymore.

"Here, I noticed they'd moved two extra beds into our dorm room," a kid with flaming red hair suddenly spoke up. He was tall and lanky with a sprinkling of freckles across his face. Next to him was a shorter, dark haired guy with green eyes and round glasses. Squall noticed an interesting scar on his forehead. Hadn't Hermione said something about that kid Harry who had a scar?

"Hey, you're Harry Potter!" Selphie shrieked, pointing at him. He looked taken back.

"Geesh, _they_ even know who I am," Harry said to the red haired kid. "Yeah. Nice to meet you, Selphie."

He offered his hand to her. "And you know my name! I mean, I know they said it like a million times during lunch, but that's still cool," she said, shaking it. "Hermione told us all about your adventures. We know what its like to be famous too, don't we?"

Irvine and Squall nodded. Rinoa seemed to be in her own world. "For what?" Hermione asked. "Finding a portal to here?"

Selphie smiled. "No. We saved the world once or twice too. We defeated the sorceress Ultimecia. She was from the future, and like, really really powerful, but we beat her."

"Sorceress? So you guys really do have magic?" some other random kid asked. He looked younger then anyone else Squall had heard speak so far. Irvine nodded.

"Magic is everywhere where we live. Not like here, where I guess only certain people can do it."

After some more questions, Harry and Ron took Squall and Irvine up a staircase on one side of the room while a bunch of girls dolled over Selphie and Rinoa and took them up the other side. "Yeah, there's a lot of girls in this school," Ron said, referring to them.

"Good, good," Irvine said softly and slowly. Squall couldn't help but laugh a little, despite his demeanor. Harry laughed too.

"Yeah, lots of pretty girls," he said.

"Like… _Ginny_?" Ron asked teasingly. For whatever reason, he looked really happy at the thought of Harry and whoever Ginny was going out. Harry blushed.

"Either way, with everything going on, there hasn't been much time for either of us to have girlfriends," he explained to Squall. Irvine was starting to look excited.

"Hey, you guys know that red-head?" Irvine suddenly asked. It seemed as if it was his burning question.

"Yeah, why?" Ron's attitude changed. "Why? Think she's funny looking, do you?"

"No way, man," Irvine said, grinning. "She's the hottest girl I've seen in this place so far."

Ron's expression changed to utter loathing and he said in a voice much unlike his own, "Touch her and you die, yellow cowboy kid."

"What? What are you talking about?"

But Irvine didn't get his answer as Harry cut Ron off and said, "Here we are! And there's your beds and stuff."

Squall looked around the room, which was circular like the common one. Only this one had four-poster beds with hangings on them, and there was a trunk at the end of each bed, except for two off to the side. At the end of one was his pack, and the other was Irvine's tattered suitcase. Irvine, grateful that Ron had been interrupted, made his way over to his bed and plopped down, letting out a longer then necessary, "Ahhh."

Squall obviously noticed there were three other beds and said, "Who else stays in here?"

"Three other guys, Seamus, Dean, and Neville," Harry replied, going over to his own trunk and looking for something. "You'll have to watch yourself around Neville; he forgets things a lot, so don't be surprised if he knocks into you or something."

Harry laughed. Ron managed a weak smile. He was still fuming over Irvine. Squall nodded. "Will do."

There was an awkward silence as Irvine further relaxed, Ron shot daggers at Irvine (not literally, though he would've liked to), Harry continued searching for whatever, and Squall sat on his bed and put his face in his hands. He wasn't used to sharing a room with anybody since he had passed his SeeD exam, and now here were five complete strangers to do so with. What if he actually got out of his Rinoa slump and brought a girl back here? He assumed that's what Harry and Ron would've had to do, and that Irvine would have to follow suit. But he would be embarrassed to no end if someone came in and saw him doing that. He remembered he didn't even like kissing Rinoa in public. Their first kiss on the balcony at the celebration party last fall had Squall sweating for weeks over if maybe someone had saw. Of course they had done it, but Squall was pretty sure if he hadn't had a private dorm _that_ wouldn't have happened.

Sometimes he wondered if he was still interested in Rinoa just because she was the only one he'd ever done that with. Yes, he had kissed girls before her, but never had it gone _that_ far. He hated to think of her and Seifer... ugh, the thought grossed him out so much his face turned sour and Harry interrupted his thoughts with, "Uh, hey, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Squall replied. "Yeah, I'm fine."


	7. Red Heads

1Before I continue, I'd like to give a thanks to Darkest Desire for being such a faithful reviewer! And to answer some of her questions which anybody else reading this might have, my whole idea for this story mainly came from the similarities between some of the characters in Final Fantasy 8 and Harry Potter (not to mention their school lives are pretty similar too, as they both live at school and have "Headmasters"). Also, I apologize if any of you find this to be moving slowly. It's just the way I write.

Chapter 7: Red-Heads

Malfoy watched as his sleek black owl flew off into the blue sky. It was an unseasonably warm day (for January, anyway), and after lunch most people had gone out to the castle grounds. Of course _he_ wouldn't be making an appearance. He didn't like the sunlight too much. Besides, he didn't think Almasy wanted to go outside either.

Malfoy turned to him suddenly. He was gazing up the owlery, watching as the owls hooted and flew over head. "So, was that girl your girlfriend?" Malfoy asked.

"Who? Rinoa? She _was_," Seifer smirked. "She thinks she still is."

Malfoy didn't like talking about this. It reminded him too much of that chubs Pansy Parkinson. But Rinoa was nowhere near Pansy in terms of bad looks. She was pretty cute, and had an awesome body. If Almasy really didn't care, maybe he'd go for a shot at her. "So, what's going on between you?"

Seifer thought for a second as they began walking out of the owlery. "She's really just a toy. I figure, with her, it's win-win all around. I make Squall angry, I didn't have to stay back at Garden, and I get the best piece in the whole school," he gave an arrogant smile followed by a short laugh. Malfoy gave him the same smile back.

----------

"Squall! Wake up!"

The dormitory was really warm, thanks to its everlasting fire, and Squall had fallen asleep on his four-poster. He opened his eyes to see Selphie leaning over him. He let out a short yell and sat up.

"Ack! It's me! Selphie!" she replied as she hopped away from the bed. "I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that Hermy's taking a few of us on a tour and I wanted to know if you wanted to come. Irvine said you'd fallen asleep after they brought you guys up here."

"Yeah," was all Squall could say. For some reason he had a really bad headache. "Look, I know I'm your assistant commander, but I'm not up for taking any tours. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Selphie smiled. Squall decided to ask that question now.

"Hey, Selphie?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you and Irvine are really close, but are you guys actually going out?"

Selphie looked at him like she thought he had an agenda. "Well, we like each other a lot, and we are really close, but I could never expect him to really be my boyfriend. He likes other girls too much. At first I'd get jealous any time I saw him with another girl. But now I just let it slide."

"Oh. Alright," Squall said. So that was it. They had an open relationship. If it worked for them...

"Oh, and if you're worried about Rinoa, she's okay," Selphie said as she got up to leave. Squall's eyes widened. Was it really that obvious that he still liked her?

"What? I wasn't worried about her," was his monotonous reply. Selphie giggled as she made her way to the door, and turned back around to face him.

"Yeah, sure you weren't." And with that she left. Squall looked after her before collapsing back down on the pillow. If Selphie knew, then Rinoa knew. He wondered if Rinoa cared or just laughed about it. He fell back asleep as he thought about this, and didn't wake up later until the room was dark except for flickering firelight. He didn't open his eyes at first, though, because he heard someone coming in. And they weren't alone.

"Everyone's down to dinner, right?" he heard Irvine's voice say softly. Only not in his normal voice. In a voice Squall never wanted to hear from Irvine or any of his other guy friends again. There was a lot of rustling like someone trying to take their clothes off.

"Yeah," replied a girl's voice in the same tone. Squall heard some more rustling. "Oh, Irvine..."

Squall squinted his eyes shut more and wished he could cover his ears. Or better yet, just get up and walk out of the room. He really wished Selphie had done him the courtesy of shutting his bed curtains earlier.

"Hey," the girl suddenly said. "What about him?"

Squall knew who they were talking about.

"Oh, that's okay. He's a pretty deep sleeper," Irvine replied. Squall wanted to laugh. How would Irvine know? The only reason he'd said that was obvious.

After a few more seconds of rustling the bed springs next to Squall creaked as the couple made their way into a more comfortable position. He heard Irvine pull his own curtains shut and knew that if he was going to get out before anything happened, now was his chance. He quietly sat up and tiptoed out of the dormitory to the fervent whispers of the people next to him. He was glad when he finally made his way into the common room. He plopped into one of the cushy chairs by the fire. That girl was right; everyone was gone. Except...

Suddenly the portrait hole swung open and Ron stormed in. "Ginny!" he shouted. "Ginny! Where the bloody hell are you?"

He spotted Squall and stomped over to him. "Have you seen my sister, Ginny?"

"What does she look like?" Squall asked, trying to sound as innocent as he could. He was pretty sure he knew where Ginny was and what she was doing right now. Ron started to turn the color of his hair.

"_She's_ the girl your friend was talking about earlier."

"Oh," was all Squall could think to say. "Well, I haven't seen anybody." That was true. He hadn't actually seen her.

"You were sleeping before, right? Did anybody else come in?"

Squall was caught. He didn't want to rat out one of his few friends but he hated lying to someone who was innocent. "I just woke up," he said. "I didn't see anybody."

Ron looked at him for a moment before saying, "I think I should go check up there, anyway. Maybe _someone else_ knows where she is."

Realizing this could get very bad, Squall said, "Maybe she's up in her room. Did you ask any of the girls?"

Ron gave him an aggravated look. "_They_ all said the last person they'd seen Ginny with was that Irvine guy!"

Ron suddenly bolted up towards the boys' dormitories. Squall bolted after him. Ron reached the door first of course and charged into the room. Squall heard a scream as he came into the room and Ron yanked open Irvine's bed curtains. There was Irvine, and there was the red-head girl, and they were in a very compromising position while being totally naked. "Ron!" Ginny screamed, her face as flaming as her hair. "Ron! You fucking bastard go the hell away!" In a flash the curtains were closed again. Ron stood there gaping. Squall was sure Ron really hadn't wanted to see anything either. Squall turned away and started to leave the room as Ginny continued yelling at Ron. He settled once again by the fire and put his face in his hands. He hoped the image of Irvine wasn't burned in his mind. He didn't blame Irvine for wanting it with Ginny, though...

Ron came back down the stairs after a few minutes, still crimson. He looked angrily at Squall as if this were all his fault. "To be totally honest, I left when I heard them come in," Squall said although Ron was now gazing into the fire. "I had nothing to do with this."

Ron didn't say anything. He just stared into the fire for a few moments. Suddenly he let out a war cry and pounced on Squall. Squall tried wrestling him off but Ron was really strong. He suspected it was because of all that quidditch practice, whatever the hell quidditch was.

Squall knew there was only one way to stop this before he got black eyes like Zell and Seifer.

"Thundara!" he shouted, hoping he was concentrating hard enough. Suddenly a spark came out of the ceiling and Ron shook so hard Squall was able to throw him off. He landed on his back and stopped shaking when he did, but he lay there puffing for a moment.

"What... was that?" Ron asked, still out of breath. "You didn't... even... use a wand!"

Squall sighed. He hated explaining this. "Where I come from we don't need wands to use magic."

"Then where'd that come from? I'd say that was a pretty powerful spell."

_I went easy on you_, thought Squall. "You see, there's magic in everything where we come from, and we store it in small stones where we can only use the magic for a certain amount of times. Here..."

Squall pulled some of his magic stones out of his pocket. He didn't have too many; Selphie was usually the one who equipped the most magic. "Look. This is the Fire stone. See that little number that looks like its inside of it?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that's how many more times I can use it. Got it?"

"I think so. Can I try using it?"

Squall thought for a second. _He should be able to_, he thought. "Okay. We can try, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. Here, take this one."

Squall handed him a Scan stone.

"Okay, now put it in your pocket and concentrate really hard. Now look at me and shout 'Scan'."

"That's it?"

"Yup."

"Okay. Scan!"

Squall felt the same way he had from the Sorting Hat. Ron's eyes suddenly grew wide and the feeling was lost as Ron turned away. "I... you... are you playing some kind of mind trick on me?" he demanded.

"No," Squall replied calmly. "Why?"

"Because something told me about you. In my head. It said you were a skilled fighter from Balamb Garden. But that doesn't make sense. Why would you come from a garden? And then it told me that you're weak against fire and poison."

Squall sighed. "Scan is a spell that tells you anything you would need to know about someone if you were fighting them. It gives you some background on them and tells you the best ways to beat them. I'm weak against fire and poison because all humans are. And Balamb Garden is what we call our school. It's a military academy, so we're taught how to fight."

Ron looked lost. "This is weird."

"It is," agreed Squall. He didn't know what else to say to this guy. After all, he'd almost had his head torn off him only a minute or so ago. Squall was glad to hear footsteps coming down from the boys' dormitories.

Ginny appeared, looking disheveled, but fully dressed. She gave Ron a scathing look as she walked across the Common Room to the girls' dormitories. Before she disappeared up the steps, though, she turned around to face Squall. "Irvine says he wants to talk to you," she said. "And if you follow him, Ron, I'll tell Parvati what you said about her to Harry during quidditch practice."

Ron turned a deep red as he stared hard at the table but said nothing as she started upstairs. Squall stood up and went up to their dormitory. There sat Irvine on his bed, just placing the hat back on his head. "Hey there, Squall," he greeted, a devilish grin on his face.

"Hello. You wanted to talk?"

"I just said that so I could get you away from that Ron kid," Irvine replied, standing up. "He's pretty pissed, huh?"

Squall remembered what Selphie had said about their relationship earlier that day. "I guess it'd be like if you'd just seen Selphie in bed with _him_."

Irvine's face fell. "What? No, nobody else would touch Selphie..."

Squall didn't want to get into some kind of stupid he said/ she said type of thing, but he felt he had to say what came out of his mouth next. After all, he really cared about Selphie, and his other friends, despite the way he usually acted. "So, it's okay with Selphie if you go around fucking everybody else but she can't have anyone?"

Irvine looked slightly angered for the first time Squall could remember. "What goes on between me and Selphie is our business. I didn't think you'd be like that, Squall."

Squall had nothing to say. He didn't want to act like the girls and ask a bunch of questions about relationships to Irvine. It was easier to do that with girls then it was other guys. Because girls always wanted to talk, it seemed. They could talk about the stupidest things sometimes.

"Well?" said Irvine after a few moments. He was beginning to sound more aggravated. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"No," said Squall. "Nothing at all."


	8. Squall's Transfiguration

1Chapter 8: Squall's Transfiguration

Note: This chapter's kind of long.

The weekend passed by quickly. Most of the seventh years were busy in the library or their common rooms with various essays, as a lot of them had NEWT classes. This left the others, especially in their first or second years, to gape and awe around the newcomers. The girls took this as an opportunity to ask them a lot of questions to help with the project research, but Zell, Irvine, and Squall had a tougher time looking for something to do. Ron and Harry were not only busy with Monday's homework but Ron refused to speak to Irvine, and it seemed, Squall. Because Zell was too lazy to ask and had pretty much forgotten what his job was, none of them knew when any of the houses held their quidditch practices, so Zell couldn't do any research. Irvine was too focused on the girls who kept swarming him to remember about the project, and Squall spent most of his time in the dormitory avoiding the endless questions. On Sunday night, Hermione approached him after dinner as he lay in one of his melancholy states on his four-poster.

"Um... Squall? Can I come in?" She asked from the door. He sat up. He really hadn't been expecting anybody.

"Yeah. What do you need?"

"McGonagall's given me your class schedules," Hermione said as she came closer and he stood up straight. She looked almost nervous as she held out a piece of parchment to him. "You start tomorrow."

Squall took the parchment and looked it over. He'd never heard of things like "Transfiguration" or "Herbology", but they were on the list.

"Are you able to understand it?" Hermione asked.

"What are these things? What's transfiguration? What's Muggle Studies?" Squall asked, somewhat frustrated. As stated before, he didn't like feeling stupid.

Hermione came around and stood by his side. She looked over the piece of parchment with him. "Transfiguration is where you take an object and turn it into something else. Muggle Studies is, what else, the study of Muggles. Let's see, in Potions you mix ingredients to make different concoctions. In Herbology, you'll study the plants we use to make the potions from. Astronomy should be interesting. I'm sure you have stars back home, right?"

Squall nodded, taking a sideways glance at her. Hermione really was very smart. No wonder Dumbledore had her explain all this stuff to them. "Looks like you covered it," he said to her, placing the parchment on his bed. "Thank you."

Hermione looked up at him, her cheeks slightly pink. "You're welcome," she replied. She turned away. "Well, I have to go give the others their schedules. Coming down?"

Squall shook his head. "I think I'll stay here. But thanks anyway."

Hermione nodded, but hesitated before leaving. She glanced at the bed next to Squall's. "Has Ron been ignoring you because of Ginny?"

Squall was taken back. He wondered how many people knew of the incident on Friday night. "Yeah," he answered.

Hermione came closer to him again. "It's stupid, really" she continued. "I mean, you had nothing to do with it. And Ginny did it by herself. Ron needs to know that she's sixteen now... it's not even as if Irvine's that much older then her."

Squall nodded in agreement. She talked as though she and Ginny were pretty close. "It doesn't seem like that much of a loss for me," he said.

"Ron's a good person when he's not like this. But if he's going to act immature about it, you're probably right in staying away from him."

They were both quiet for a moment. Squall noticed how soft Hermione's facial features were. He felt a lurch in his stomach and hoped that Irvine wouldn't notice anything about her. "You should probably get going," he said.

"You're right," Hermione agreed, and she left. Squall loafed back onto his bed, forgetting all about tomorrow's schedule.

8/8/8/8/8/8/8/

Quistis felt quite frazzled as she quickly walked down the hall, no one in sight. She had never been late for anything in her life, and to sleep through the beginning of her first day at Hogwarts! What an embarrassment. It didn't help that she had no idea where she was going, and that those stairs kept changing on her.

She traveled a little farther until seeing a sign for a girls bathroom. Thinking she might find somebody in there to help find her way to Transfiguration, she decided to give it a shot and pop in there for a second. As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted with a loud bawling. "Hello?" she asked. "Is anyone in here?"

"Go away!" came a young girl's voice from one of the back stalls. Quistis came in and shut the door behind her.

"Please, if you can just help me... I'm a little lost," she called hopefully toward the stalls.

"It's all about _you_, isn't it? What about _me_? Can't you see I'm distressed?" the voice replied with harshness, and then continued its crying.

"I can. But, please... I'm kind of new here and don't know where to go."

Suddenly the door of the last stall flung itself open and a white blur zoomed out, screeching. Quistis screamed and jumped back against the door as the blur approached her and took shape into a girl who couldn't have been more then thirteen, with pig tails and a look to kill on her pale face. The girl screamed shrilly.

"Ack! I'm sorry!" Quistis said, feeling as though she were begging. "Please! I was just looking for the transfiguration classroom. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

Quistis left the bathroom quickly and gladly slammed the door shut behind her, hoping that the ghost wouldn't follow her through the door. Coming down the hall was a tall boy with red hair. _Finally, an actual person_, Quistis thought as she approached him.

8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8/8

"Today, students, we will be transfiguring statues into people."

The class whispered excitedly. Squall couldn't believe this. So this is what these kids did all day? Performed magic tricks? How was this supposed to help them in the world? At least at Garden you learned the basics like math and language.

"Now, don't get too excited. Although we can transfigure them into anybody we like, they won't be able to talk and can only do what the person who transfigures them wills them to do," Professor McGonagall continued. Squall caught a devilish grin from Seamus to Neville.

"Professor, what affect has this had on the war against Voldemort?" Hermione suddenly asked. "Surely he's used these dummies to his ability?"

"Excellent question, Miss Granger. By ancient magicks put into place thousands of years ago, this spell prevents the transfigured dummies from bringing harm to anybody, whether it be physically or magically. So Voldemort, as far as the ministry's best Aurors know, hasn't found a way to use them yet."

"So what's their use, Professor?" Hermione questioned.

"Well, I might say they are rather good at housework and performing errands. More useful for witches then wizards, it seems."

"Useful in different ways," Seamus muttered, and the boys around him snickered.

McGonagall separated them into pairs to begin working. Because they were visitors and didn't have any wands, Squall, Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine (who were all together because this was a Gryffindor/Ravenclaw class) were each paired with Harry, Parvati, Hermione, and Ron, respectively. But...

"Where has Mr. Weasley gotten himself?" McGonagall asked sharply, noting that Ron had yet to come back from the supposed bathroom. "And where's the fifth of you? Another girl is supposed to be here, right?"

Suddenly the door to the classroom opened and in walked in a terrified looking Quistis and a casual Ron. "Here we are," he said. McGonagall glared at them.

"Might I inquire where you two have been?" she said to Ron, seeming much more angry with him then Quistis.

"You see, Professor, Quistis was lost, so she went into the first floor girls' bathroom looking for someone to ask about directions. But of course, you know who's in there..."

McGonagall, although her lips were clasped so tight they disappeared, gave a stiff nod.

"So, she got scared but thankfully ran into me on her way out," Ron finished explaining, looking very pleased with himself. Quistis still looked scared, but Squall was sure it was more for disturbing a teacher then because of whatever was in the bathroom. Both she and Ron were excused and put with their partners. Ron didn't bother hiding his groan when he saw who he was paired up with.

"Harry, wanna swap?" he immediately asked.

"No switching, Mr. Weasley! This is a rather complicated spell and I want to keep everything organized," McGonagall interrupted the transaction.

Things seemed to go pretty quietly after that. Each pair was given a small statuette of either a toad, cat, or owl. Within minutes, Hermione and Rinoa had transfigured their cat statuette into a silent replica of Rinoa's mother. Squall recognized her from the dreams of the past he had experienced during the fight against Galbadia. It was quite an amazing thing to watch as the cat grew tall and shone bright until it turned into the frail-looking Julia, who was dressed fancy as though she were about to perform her famous "Eyes on Me". Rinoa gaped and couldn't seem to say anything. Hermione looked quite proud of herself. The class looked in awe before going back to trying their own transfigurations, seeming more determined then before.

Squall continued watching as Rinoa reached out and touched her "mom"'s arm. The woman simply smiled back at her, and then brought her arm up and put it around Rinoa. Rinoa started crying. Squall thought this was too private to watch, so he turned back to Harry, who was also watching Rinoa and her transfigured mother. "Do you know who that lady is?" he asked Squall.

"Yeah. That's her mom. She died a long time ago, though."

Harry's emerald eyes suddenly grew wide. "Did she?"

Little did Squall know what Harry was thinking of doing.

"McGonagall said we can transfigure the statue into whoever we want, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Squall replied. He had an idea what Harry was getting at. He really hoped Harry wouldn't be getting as emotional as Rinoa. Harry's eyes scanned the page the spell was on in his book wildly.

"Okay! Bollocks... the person who we'd want to make appear can only be thought of by the person holding the object to be transfigured in both hands. That means _you'd _have to hold onto the statue and imagine the person you want to appear while I cast the spell. So this is why we needed partners..."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment, and even cast a glance at Ron. Squall knew Harry wished they weren't here so he could have his friend as his partner. "Who is it you want to see, anyway?"

"Someone," was all Harry said. "Hmm... well... I guess you'll have to think of somebody."

Squall was lost. Who did he really want to appear? Everyone he gave anything about was here. He really didn't miss Laguna that much, even though he'd figured out that was his dad. He couldn't even remember his mother, who Ellone told him was Raine. He didn't feel like seeing Ellone either. Then he wondered something. Could he make a double of someone who was in the room right now?

"I know who I want to try making," Squall said suddenly. He didn't feel ashamed of who he wanted to appear. He kind of just wanted to do it to get her mind off her mom.

"Alright. Take hold of the statue. Let's see if I can do this."

Harry looked as though he were concentrating really hard as he said something in Latin. The toad statue Squall held shook and glowed a little but nothing happened. Harry consulted his book again before saying, "You have to concentrate harder. Really think about how you want to see the person, not just about them. What do you want them to wear, blah blah. Let's try again."

Squall thought about Rinoa. He tried thinking of a memory when she was really beautiful. His mind instantly went back to the time they first met, at the SeeD party. He thought of the way she smiled as she came over to him, about how cute she crinkled her nose, about how she basically led him around the dance floor. Meanwhile he heard Harry recite the incantation again and this time the stone toad shook even harder, so hard that Squall had to let go of it. But he forced his mind to stay on his image of Rinoa. The frog grew larger and glowed so bright he and Harry had to look away. When the brightness dimmed a little, a carbon copy of Rinoa in her cream-colored dress appeared before them. She looked at Squall and crinkled her nose, smiling. Squall couldn't help but smile back. "Yes!" Harry exclaimed. "I'm usually no good at these things."

The occurrence of another transfiguration had drawn the attention of the rest of the class, including the real Rinoa, who gasped. "What?" she said. She glared at Squall.

"Excellent, Mr. Potter!" McGonagall cried, rushing over. "Ten points to Gryffindor for you and Hermione!"

McGonagall looked from the transfigured Rinoa to the real Rinoa. "And she looks so real! Five more points!"

Suddenly another pair transfigured someone else so McGonagall, and everyone else, turned their attention to that. The real Rinoa continued to stare at Squall, as did the others from Balamb. She stormed over. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, fuming.

"I needed to think of someone," Squall replied coolly. "You were the first person I saw."

Rinoa looked half-satisfied with this answer but said nothing. Instead she turned her attention to her copy. "I really did wear a nice outfit that night... why wouldn't you have wanted to dance with me?" she said softly. She looked like she wanted to touch it to see how real the image of herself was but looked too shy. Squall, knowing that since he conjured her he could have her do whatever he wanted, imagined the Rinoa-copy putting her hands on the shoulders of the real Rinoa. So she did. Rinoa let out a little scream and pushed the copy's hands off her. Squall chortled. "You're horrible, Squall!" Rinoa said, turning away to go back to Hermione and "Julia".

Harry watched her go before saying, "I don't blame you for wanting two of her around. Why is she dressed like this, anyway?"

The copy looked at both of them before smiling and crinkling her nose. "And why does she keep doing that?"

Squall didn't want to explain, but since Harry had helped this happen, he knew he should. "We met at a party that celebrated me, Selphie, Zell, and this other kid becoming SeeDs." (Squall had explained all about SeeDs and Gardens over the weekend to the other boys in the dormitory) "Well, she was there to discuss something with the Headmaster, and this song came on, and she asked me dance with her. This is the dress she was wearing. And, she keeps crinkling her nose because... I really liked it when she did that."

Squall tried to keep himself from blushing. He'd never admitted that to anyone before, even Rinoa. Harry didn't laugh or anything, though. He looked as if he were thinking about something, or someone, else. "I know what you mean," he said. Squall remembered what Ron had said about Ginny. Maybe Harry was thinking of _her_. He turned his attention back to the copy. She really did come out perfect.

"Arrgh!" came a yell from the table next to them. Squall spun around to see a half- stone toad, half- Selphie thing with Irvine next to it. Ron was flaming again. "You weren't concentrating enough! We can't even reverse it!"

Irvine looked like he felt like he was the dumbest person in the world. The half-Selphie copy reached out her normal arm and put it on him. "Oh, Irvy!" came Selphie's happy exclamation from the other side of the room. "You thought of _me_!"

"Calm down, Mr. Weasley. It won't affect your grade. And because of this spell's complexity, it only lasts for half an hour," McGonagall said, which calmed his nerves a little bit, but Squall knew he just wanted a reason to be mad at Irvine.

Over the last twenty or so minutes of class, most people were able to transfigure_ something_. Quistis and her partner made a Xu, Selphie and Lavender an Irvine, and, one which was most memorable for Squall because of the humor in it, a nude Britney Spears for Seamus and Dean. At this, McGonagall quickly changed her back into a statue and assigned Seamus and Dean a week's worth of detentions. Squall couldn't help laughing with Irvine as they left their first class of the day, heading off for Potions next, leaving all their copies behind, who were now turning back into small garden statues.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter was a little OOC for Squall, but I have to say it was fun to write. I hope you're enjoying the story so far! And yes, there will be more development with the story line. Thanks to all who have reviewed! Keep it up! Constructive criticism is always welcome.


	9. Lunchroom Confessions

1Chapter 9: Lunchroom Confessions

As Squall and Irvine were leaving the Transfiguration classroom, Professor McGonagall called after them, "Mr. Kinneas and Mr. Leonhart, if you could come here please."

Squall wondered what this had to be about. Surely she hadn't expected _them_ to use their own magic for the transfiguration. They approached McGonagall's desk, Irvine looking somewhat apprehensive. Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa were already standing there, along with all the dummies. It was quite strange, actually.

"How's everything been so far?" were the first words out of her mouth. Squall was taken back slightly. This was really the first time anybody had asked them this.

"It's been wonderful, Professor," Selphie answered. "Everyone's really nice."

The rest of them nodded in agreement.

"Very good. I know what I'm about to say is a little late in coming, but it's been decided that we should try giving you wands. The rest of the staff wanted me to observe today and see if any of you would try using your own magic to perform the transfiguration. Obviously, that didn't happen, and I'm sure it's because you don't do magic like this where you come from, correct?"

"Yeah," said Irvine. "Nothing like this."

"Yes. Since you do posses magical powers, however, you _will_ be taken to buy wands. Because you have no money, or at least money that can be spent here, the school will pay for your wands. And on the same length, you also don't need to worry about buying books or robes or any other same things the students need to buy because we won't ask you to wear robes and I'm sure your classmates will gladly share books with you. Tomorrow, you are excused from classes and I will have an escort ready to take you to Diagon Alley, where you will purchase your wands. Questions?"

"What's Diagon Alley?" Selphie asked quickly. "Is it near the school?"

McGonagall looked as though she were trying to hide a smile. "No, it's far from here. It's a street full of wizarding shops in London. Do you know what London is?"

They shook their heads. McGonagall sighed and explained as much as she could about Diagon Alley, London, and the country they were in before students began pouring into her classroom for their next class. "Don't forget, meet your escort tomorrow morning after breakfast at the Front Gates," she said as a parting word before they left for the dungeons, all except Quistis, who groaned as she now had to find her way to Muggle Studies.

8? 687868/6?86

Potions was decently interesting. Because they didn't really need their wands so much, the four from Balamb were able to participate much more. Not that they totally enjoyed it, though. Rinoa was grossed out by the various ingredients she had to pour in her cauldron (they used school cauldrons instead of their own, which they obviously didn't have), so when it began to sputter and spit because she'd failed to put the right amounts in, she pretty much gave up and just watched everyone else. Snape gave her a pathetic look, the same one he usually gave Harry and Ron, but said nothing. He was less then pleased that McGonagall had placed them in classes. However, Selphie, Irvine, and Squall produced perfect looking light purple draughts (they were used as a cure for hiccups), but this failed to soften Snape's demeanor even an ounce.

"Finally, lunch!" Irvine said as the bell rang and they began their way out of the dungeons.

"You're starting to sound like Zell," Rinoa joked.

"No, no, not because of the food," he replied, grinning. "I met this girl this morning at breakfast. She said she wanted to meet me back in the Common Room during lunch hour."

Squall glanced at Selphie. She looked as though she weren't paying attention, or at least pretending not to. "Oh," was all Rinoa said. After a moment of them walking in silence, she continued, "We need to tell Zell and Seifer about going to buy wands tomorrow."

"Yeah," replied Selphie, staring ahead. "Unless they were told by s-someone else."

Squall wondered if he was the only one who heard that stutter. He caught Rinoa giving Selphie a cautious glance. They parted ways as they entered the Entrance Hall, Irvine heading up the Grand Staircase and the rest of them into the Great Hall. They found their typical spots at the Gryffindor table and settled down, Squall looking over to the Hufflepuff table for Zell. He really didn't care about telling Seifer anything, though. He was sure Rinoa would do that. Suddenly he spotted Zell, already elbow-deep in hotdogs, managing to chat it up with some of his new found Hufflepuff buddies. "I'm going to tell Zell about the wands," he told Rinoa and Selphie before leaving them at the table, but not before noticing how glassy Selphie's eyes were looking.

"Zell?" Squall asked as he stood behind Mr. Dincht, who turned around at the sound of his name.

"Squall!" he exclaimed with his mouth full of dog. He took one giant gulp before continuing. "Did you hear about going to get wands tomorrow?"

Squall nodded. "That's what I was coming to tell you."

"Isn't that awesome?"

"I guess."

"Leave it up to you to rain on everybody's parade," Zell said, but not sounding upset. "You have Herbology next period, right?"

Squall nodded again.

"Yeah, Ernie told me Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors have Herbology together," Zell said, motioning to some kid next to him.

"Hullo," Ernie said to Squall, giving him a quick nod.

"Hey," replied Squall before turning back to Zell. "You know if Seifer knows yet or not?"

Zell's face turned sour. "_Yeah_. We had our first class, Potions, together. Hyne, he's so stupid..."

"So Professor Snape told you?"

"Yeah. Meet tomorrow at the Front Gates after breakfast, right?"

"Yes. Okay then. See you, Zell."

"Alright. Next period!"

Squall headed back to the Gryffindor table, but slowed as he saw tears running down Selphie's cheeks and she talked quickly about something to Rinoa, who sat across from her. She buried her face in her hands and cried, Rinoa reaching one blue-warmer clad arm across the table and placing her hand on Selphie's shoulder. Squall wasn't sure what to do. He knew Selphie had probably been waiting for him to leave so she could pour her heart out to Rinoa, but then again he had no where else to go. Even his sanctuary of a four-poster was out of the question, thanks to Irvine.

He had heard of some of the kids talking about a library. Despite that he really didn't like to read, Squall was interested in this new world they were in. Books were always easier to learn from then people. So that was that. He was going to the library. But where the hell was the library?

"I'm off to do that report on curing draughts for Snape," he suddenly heard Hermione say to Ron and Harry. "I'll be in the-"

"Yeah, we know, the _library_," Ron rolled his eyes. "See you next period."

And with that, Hermione stood up and right next to Squall. "Oh, hello," she said, giving him a friendly smile. She gathered her things. "Excuse me, I'm just going to the library."

"Yeah, umm...," Squall was at a loss for words. "I... was about to go there too..."

_Stop being such a doofus_, Squall thought.

"Oh, then... would you like me to show you where it is?" Hermione asked, sounding just a bit uncomfortable but still with a smile.

"Sure," replied Squall.

So they walked together out of the Great Hall, both unaware of the stares they were getting from people, and of the ridiculous giggling coming from a group of Slytherin girls.


	10. Scratching of Quills

1Chapter 10: Scratching of Quills

Squall felt a bout of nervousness tumbling around in his stomach. Why? Sure, Hermione was cute, but he'd only known her a few days. Why was he so shy around her?

"Good afternoon, Miss Granger," an old woman greeted Hermione from behind the desk. "And... oh? Is this one of our visitors?"

"Yes," replied Hermione. "Madame Pince, this is Squall Leonhart. Squall, Madame Pince."

"Hello," said Squall. He hated having to be introduced to everyone.

"This is Squall's first time in the library," Hermione continued.

"Yes, I know," said Madame Pince. "There is no eating, drinking, talking loudly, or going into the Restricted section."

"Okay," Squall said, knowing all that had been coming. After all, aren't those the rules in every school library?

Hermione settled with him at a table in the corner. "I always sit here," she said. "I like being by the window."

"Yeah, I guess it's nice," Squall replied.

"So, what did you want to come here for? I always come to finish my papers early."

"I just wanted... to read up a little on Hogwarts. It's hard to study it when everybody keeps asking _you_ all the questions."

Hermione laughed a little. She had a very pretty smile. "I know what you mean. Well... the everyone always asking you questions part. 'Hermione, can you help me with this', 'Hermione, what did Professor Sinistra say about Pegasus?', 'Hermione, I didn't pay attention at all. Can you please write this essay for me?'. I mostly get it from Ron and Harry."

Squall smiled a little. _What am I doing?_ _I'm Squall. I'm strong and unemotional. I keep everyone on task. So why am I sitting here with this girl listening to her talk about her problems?_

_Because you like her_, a little voice in his head suddenly said.

_What are you talking about? I don't do that. I don't get crushes on people, especially ones I just met. And certainly not ones from other dimensions._

_We can't help the people we fall for_, the voice said. Squall realized that was something Selphie had said to him once. It was that night after she had performed that concert in Fisherman's Horizon. Squall was lamenting over Rinoa and wandering around Garden's main hall when Selphie came out of the elevator, a huge grin across her face. "Hello, Squally!" she said, wrapping her arms around him. He had stood there stiffly. "Did you enjoy the concert?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Selphie."

"Any time, Squally, any time!"

Squall gave her a Look.

"Oh, stop being such a sour puss! The world is so wonderful, Squall. It's full of such wonderful people. You know, Squall, we can't help the people we fall for. It just happens," she smiled, and then bounced off towards the dormitories. When Irvine came out of the elevator shortly after, Squall was pretty sure he knew what she was so happy about.

Back in the library, Hermione sat across from Squall, looking into his face. "Squall? Squall? Are you alright?"

Squall snapped out of his memory. "What?"

"You were staring off into space. I... was a little worried."

"Oh."

There was a moment of awkward silence. "Well, here's a book I used when I first came to Hogwarts," Hermione broke the silence, pulling out of her pile a thick yet small leather-bound book. _Hogwarts, A History_ was its title. She placed it in front of him. "It tells you everything. It's updated every ten years. Next year they'll come out with the new edition, and McGonagall said everything that's happened over the past seven years will be in it, including mentions of me."

Hermione looked proud of herself once more. "You've done a lot while you've been here, huh?" Squall replied, remembering only tiny snippets of all she had said on Friday. While he was worrying about Rinoa...

She nodded. "I hate bragging, but I've _seen_ a lot of the most important events that have taken place since I've learned about the wizarding world. Not that they've all been good..."

She got the same look in her eyes Harry had when he wanted to transfigure someone who died in the past. "Nah, its okay," Squall said, wanting to keep her from getting sad. "Selphie's probably told you all about our situation back home."

"With defeating the Sorceress? Yes, she did. At least everyone where you come from was happy. Poor Harry... the _Daily Prophet_ can't keep their filthy hands off him. It's okay now, but it was _bad_ a few years back."

Squall wondered what the _Daily Prophet_ was. "Well, it's not like our peace will last. Ultimecia came from the future, so we know that evil Sorceresses will come to power again," he replied. Hermione gave him an inquisitive look.

"You should still be proud of everything you've done. Especially making it here... I bet it's as big an accomplishment in your world as it would be in ours."

"Yeah, it is," Squall said, but he couldn't help thinking of the almost greedy look in Cid's eyes the morning they left.

Squall opened up a page in _Hogwarts, A History_. He leafed through it a little as Hermione took out a roll of parchment and her Potions book. Over the next half hour or so to the scratching of Hermione's quill, Squall read all about the beginnings of Hogwarts, about how there were four witches and wizards a thousand years ago who founded it. He didn't get far, though, when the bell rang signaling the end of lunch hour. "Here's your book," Squall said to Hermione, handing it to her.

"Oh, you can keep for a little while. I've read it already," she replied, packing all her stuff back up. Squall's eyes widened. It was really thick.

"Oh. Thanks. I'll make sure to get it back to you soon."

"Keep it as long as you need it," she smiled at him. "Thank you for the company. You're coming to Herbology next, too, right?"

Squall nodded. "Do we all have the same schedules?"

"They're really similar, but there are some differences. For example, tomorrow morning you have Muggle Studies while I have Ancient Runes. I tried Muggle Studies and found it wasn't that useful for me," she explained as they left the library, still unaware of the looks they were getting. Squall had the sudden urge to reach out and grab Hermione's free hand. Of course he didn't. Hermione gave him a sideways glance.

They walked without conversation to the greenhouses. Squall didn't know the way, so he had to keep watching which way Hermione was going. The castle was such a maze to him.

"I bet you wish you'd come with us on the tour the other day, huh?" she asked with a smile. Squall didn't answer. He was actually happy he'd gotten to sleep that afternoon. He enjoyed taking naps.

Hermione said nothing, either. Squall wondered if he were turning her off. What did it matter if he was?

_Because you want her to like you_, that voice said again.

_Shut up_, thought Squall. _I don't care_.

They finally walked into the greenhouse, and Squall gave a little wave to Hermione as he left her side and approached the professor's desk, where Zell was already with Rinoa and Selphie, who's eyes were still red and her face puffy. "Good afternoon," the squat woman behind the desk answered with a warm smile. "One more is coming, right?"

"He should be," Zell answered. "Have you seen Irvine around, Squall?"

"He went back to the Common Room during lunch," Squall said, wishing _he_ didn't have to say anything but the professor was watching him for his answer. After a few more minutes of silence between them, the bell rang. The professor sighed.

"I guess I'll just have to explain to Kinneas later. I am Professor Sprout, the herbology teacher, and this is the greenhouse I teach my seventh years in. In here, you will learn how to tend to the various herbs and plants useful for potions in the wizarding world. You'll also learn which ones are dangerous and which ones are safe to eat and put in meals. The students who take this class are usually bound to work for either St. Mungo's or the Ministry. I'm sure you've been told about both?"

Selphie nodded. "St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and the Ministry of Magic?"

"Right. Now, today's lesson is pretty easy. All we're doing is making sketches of the-"

But Professor Sprout didn't finish her sentence, as just then a yellow cowboy sauntered into the greenhouse.

"You must be Irvine!" Sprout said warmly, actually standing up away from her desk. Selphie didn't turn to look. Irvine gave Squall a wink and his famous grin before turning on the teacher-charm.

"Yup, that's me," Irvine replied, tipping his hat. "Irvine Kinneas."

For some reason, Professor Sprout seemed quite enlightened to have Irvine in her presence. Squall suspected it was his typical ability to charm females. She quickly explained to Irvine what was going on (Squall failed to catch exactly _what_ they were to sketch), and then got the class settled into the assignment.

"So, did I miss anything during lunch?" Irvine asked Squall as they began sketching a strange plant that supposedly helped reverse some kind of hex. Squall tried to think of a way to be diplomatic about the whole situation with Selphie.

"I went to the library," answered Squall. There. After all, Selphie and Rinoa had no idea Squall had seen Selphie crying. They hadn't even asked where he'd been the whole time.

Irvine laughed. "Interesting. What did the girls do? Or did they come with?"

"I don't know. They stayed in the Great Hall."

"Hmm. Interesting," Irvine smiled. _What's with him and that word?_ Squall thought. Irvine turned his attention to Selphie and Rinoa, who were across the table with their own plant.

"Anything happen today while I was gone?" he asked them. Rinoa looked up and gave him a look of loathing. Selphie continued sketching as though no one had spoken to her. Irvine stopped grinning and went back to his own sketching. Squall took this time to peek at Hermione's table that she shared with Ron, Harry, and Neville. _She hangs out with a lot of guys_, Squall contemplated. _But she doesn't seem to be interested in any of them_. He took this as a good sign. He noticed Harry and Ron were leaning over her sketch and copying it on to their's. Hermione acted as though this were completely normal, and her and Neville were talking about something or other.

The rest of Herbology was spent in relative silence, excepting the random, "Can I move this a little?" or "You're in my light!", and Squall wasn't sad when the bell rang. As Selphie and Rinoa stomped away together and Irvine looked as if he wanted to be alone after Herbology though, Squall saw he was going to have to find his way back to Gryffindor Tower by himself, which made him less then pleased. He handed in their sketches and headed out of the greenhouse, feeling, although he would've hated if anybody knew it, depressed that he didn't have anybody to walk with at the moment.


	11. The Witch and The Knight

1Chapter 11: The Witch And the Knight

"What the hell's your problem!" Squall heard Irvine shout as he came in through the portrait hole. He spotted Selphie and Rinoa sitting by the Common Room fire and Irvine standing next to Selphie's squashy chair. She looked as though she didn't even notice him there. Rinoa kept her eyes gazing into the fire.

Suddenly Selphie spoke.

"_I'm _not the one with the problem."

Irvine made a noise that sounded something like a growl. "Fine," he said through clenched teeth. "I thought we were friends, but I guess that's too much for _me_ to handle, because _I_ apparently am the one with the problem."

Irvine stomped past Squall, giving him a mean look before almost smashing through the portrait hole. Selphie and Rinoa finally noticed Squall standing there.

"Oh, hello Squall," Selphie said before looking back at the fire. "Found your way okay?"

Squall gave a stiff nod before walking towards the dormitories. "Where're you going?" she asked, a grin coming back across her face. "Stop being so anti-social."

"Squall's always anti-social," Rinoa laughed. Squall faced them, trying to focus more on Selphie then Rinoa.

"I just like to sleep. Is there a _problem_ with that?" he said, not realizing the pun he'd made on the previous situation. Selphie and Rinoa giggled. Squall groaned. He was trying his best to stay out of the Selphie v. Irvine thing.

"Come and stay awhile with us," Selphie said as she calmed down. "Tell us what happened to you during lunch."

Squall tried not to blush. Had they seen him leaving the Great Hall with Hermione? He wondered what they thought. _Why should I care? _He settled himself into the chair closest to them.

"Nothing. I just went to the library," he answered. Selphie and Rinoa exchanged glances.

"With... _Hermione_...?" Selphie grinned. Squall tensed up.

"Yes... with _Hermione_," he said, not looking at them. They giggled again.

"She is very nice," Rinoa said. "And pretty, even though I don't think she realizes it."

"Yes," Selphie agreed. "And she's pretty focused on her work. A lot like _you_ Squall."

She and Rinoa waited for Squall to respond, stifling further giggles.

"Whatever," came his reply.

"I knew it!" squealed Selphie, jumping up and standing in front of Squall. He noticed how she _bounced_ in her little yellow dress. Being a guy could get in the way sometimes. He didn't flinch or show any sign of this as he answered, "Knew what?"

"You like Hermione!"

Squall couldn't keep himself from turning a Ron-like color. "What are you talking about?"

Selphie giggled more. "Stop trying to hide it, Squall. You don't realize how easy it is to read you sometimes."

She leaned in so Rinoa couldn't hear what she said next. "Like the other day when you were worried about Rinoa."

Squall didn't say anything. Rinoa looked on questioningly. Suddenly Hermione came in through the portrait hole. Squall wondered how much weirder this could get. "Hello," she said cheerily, heading for the girls dormitories. "Harry's holding a quidditch practice if you guys want to come watch."

Squall had figured out that Harry was captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team.

Selphie turned away from Squall and said to Hermione, "Squall won't talk, so would you inform us of what happened in the library?"

Hermione laughed. "What else? He read and I did homework. It was nothing, really."

Squall couldn't help but feel a little hurt by this. Selphie and Rinoa cast a glance at him. He really wished only Selphie were here. Having his ex-girlfriend in the room made this situation about a million times more embarrassing. He wondered how she felt, or if she had any feelings for him left.

"So, are you coming?" Hermione continued, heading towards the dormitories. "It's a little cold outside, so I'm going to get my coat."

"Yes, we'll come," Selphie answered, still looking at Squall. "Meet you back down here in a few minutes, Squall?"

"Yeah, whatever," he said, going up to his own dormitory. Not like he had a coat to put on. He figured his leather jacket would keep him warm enough.

Squall flopped onto his four-poster. Irvine was off somewhere, Harry and Ron at quidditch practice, and those other three guys… he had no idea where they were. He looked over at Ron's bed, where posters of the Chudley Cannons with zooming players decked his small amount of wall space. Squall wondered how the whole moving pictures thing worked. If someone at Hogwarts took a picture of him, would he be moving in it too?

He must have not realized he fell asleep because suddenly he felt himself being shook and Selphie was saying, "Come on, Squall, we're going to be late!"

"What?" he said, opening his eyes. "How long was I asleep?"

"I don't know, but I knew you would probably fall asleep so I just came up here once the rest of us came back to the common room," she said as he sat up. He saw she was wearing a huge jacket that was way too big on her tiny frame. She noticed him looking at it. "Rinoa lent it to me. I'm glad she brought so many clothes now."

"Yeah," Squall said.

"Don't you have a jacket?"

"No."

"Squall, you'll freeze!"

"That's okay."

They made their way down to the common room, where Rinoa and Hermione were waiting.

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Malfoy sat at his desk in his personal dormitory, writing another letter to the Dark Lord. He was very interested in the fact that McGonagall was keeping a band of outsiders at Hogwarts and a front page header was in the works for the _Daily Prophet_, who was still wrapped around the fingers of some of the most powerful of Deatheaters. "They're going to buy wands tomorrow at Diagon Alley," Malfoy wrote. "It should be an excellent opportunity to finally get some proof of these people."

Malfoy still followed Voldemort even after what had happened at the end of the previous year. Some of Dumbledore's last words still troubled him, especially in his nightmares; "The Order has ways to make you disappear". It had even crossed his mind that he was just a pawn somehow in the great scheme against Voldemort, but he wouldn't dare mention this to anyone, for as much as he respected him, Malfoy was simply scared shitless of what the Dark Lord could do.

He shivered, trying to conjure a pleasant image in his mind to make himself feel better. Hermione with her soft and slim figure came sauntering into his mind. As much as he had always had the hots for her, she was still a mudblood, and some fool had made her Head Girl- what a joke! In his opinion, only pure bloods should be allowed such a high position in the school, or anywhere in wizarding society. Malfoy cackled to himself.

He had managed to squeeze more out of Almasy about Rinoa. Almasy said he was planning on "breaking up" with her soon. Malfoy couldn't wait. He had been watching Rinoa over the past few days. He loved the way she walked, and how her voice sounded, and her milky skin. He couldn't wait to bed her. Even if Almasy didn't break up with her, he would still have her. He _was_ Draco Malfoy, after all.

At the moment, Seifer was sprawled on Malfoy's couch flipping through one of his dirty magazines. The way the pictures moved made these wizarding magazines so much better. Malfoy signed his letter and stood up. "You can stay if you like, Almasy, but I've got to send this off."

Seifer nodded. "Good."

"Later, Almasy."

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"Bollocks, I forgot my camera! Harry wanted me to take some pictures of them at this practice," Hermione said as their small group hurried down the Grand Staircase. "I'll meet you at the pitch?"

"Sure, Hermy," Selphie replied. "I know the way."

"Good. See you soon!"

Hermione rushed back up the stairs, cursing the person who thought to put the Heads room in one of the highest towers. After about five minutes, she finally reached it, spat out the password (Cheese Doodles), and entered the Heads main room, which was just as big as the other common rooms even though only two people stayed there. She spotted her camera where she had left it on her favorite arm chair along with her school books. Suddenly she heard someone coming down the stairs from Malfoy's room. _Crap, Malfoy's here_, she thought as she headed towards the portrait hole.

"Oh, hey," she turned around when she heard a voice she didn't recognize.

"Hello," she answered to the tall blonde-hair guy in a white trench coat. "You're Seifer, right? Rinoa's your girlfriend?"

"I wouldn't really call her my 'girlfriend'," Seifer replied, settling down on one of the chairs. Hermione stopped for a moment, not wanting to be rude to one of the guests, whether they were Malfoy's friends or not.

"Oh, really? That's interesting."

"Yeah."

Seifer gave her a strange look. Hermione uncomfortably looked towards the door. Suddenly Seifer stood up.

"I have to get going to the quidditch pitch," Hermione forced herself to say. "Nice meeting you, Seifer."

But in a flash it seemed he was blocking the door from her. "Do _you_ have a _boyfriend_?" he asked, his voice seeming strange. Hermione tried hiding a wince as she held her ground.

"No. Please let me by. I'm going to be late."

Hermione certainly didn't expect it when Seifer forced his hand on her upper chest, knocking her back so she landed on the chair. Hermione, for one of the few times in her life (surprisingly), felt truly scared. She instinctively fingered the wand in her pocket, ready to take it out if he made another move. And he did. He approached her slowly, daunting in his tall, muscular figure. "I won't make you late," he said, with a slightly sinister grin.


	12. Honesty and Indifference

1Chapter 12: Honesty and Indifference

_Damn you, Selphie_, Squall thought, crossing his arms against the frigid British winter. They were sitting about midway up in the bleachers, which were actually the best seats, because then they could see all the action.

"I wonder what's taking Hermy so long?" Selphie spoke, her cheeks rosy from the cold. "It's almost halfway through the practice, I think."

"She probably met up with some friends on the way," Rinoa replied. "Or maybe she's too nervous... with _Squall_ being here and all."

She threw a playful glance at him. He stared back unemotionally. Face falling, she turned back to the practice and said, "I wish she were here so she could explain this quidditch thing."

Just as she said that, Harry zoomed by after something gold and flickering and Ginny flew past him before using a baseball-bat like object to hit what looked to the Garden students bowling balls. Selphie shook her head, a look of disgust crossing her face. "What makes her so special?" she scoffed quietly to herself.

Squall spotted a breathless Hermione making her way towards the stands. Selphie and Rinoa noticed when they saw him fixated on something. Selphie stood up quickly and cried, "Hermy! Over here!"

Hermione made her way up relatively fast, considering how high up they were. Squall noticed how red her face was, especially her left cheek, and assumed it was because she had rushed to get there. "Hello," she greeted, giving a sideways glance to Rinoa.

"Hey!" Selphie grinned. "What took so long?"

Hermione hesitated before answering, "McGonagall needed to speak with me about something."

Squall was pretty sure Selphie and Rinoa, like him, knew that was a load of crap.

"Oh," replied Rinoa. "Well... now that you're here, can you explain this game to us?"

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After quidditch practice, the four hung around outside the Gryffindor locker room waiting for Harry and Ron so they could all go to dinner together. Selphie and Rinoa couldn't seem to stop talking about how interesting it was and how they couldn't wait until the next match, which was Slytherin v. Gryffindor ("Highly anticipated," Hermione had told them). Squall kept his cool demeanor up but couldn't help noticing the troubled glances Hermione kept throwing in Rinoa's direction. Suddenly the door opened and the team poured out. Harry, Ron, and Ginny brought up the rear. The air instantly tensed as she and Selphie locked eyes.

"Hello, everyone," Harry said, seeming not to notice the brewing cat fight. "I'm sure Hermione explained it well enough to you."

Rinoa gave him a sincere smile and answered, "Definitely. You're a great Leaper."

He and Ron exchanged looks. "You mean _Seeker_?" Ron asked incredulously, his eyes wide. After seven years, he still wasn't used to the idea of outsiders not understanding quidditch. Rinoa blushed furiously.

Hermione coughed as if to lighten the general mood, but before she could say anything Ginny cut her off. "I know everyone here heard what happened last Friday," she said clearly, eyeing Ron, Squall, and Selphie the most. "And I'd just like to say something. Irvine is one of the most charming and attractive guys I've met, but I had no knowledge whatsoever that he was involved with anyone else in the slightest, and I would not have involved myself with him if I _had_ known. In fact, I think the way he acts is disgusting, and will let it be known _here_ that I intend never to involve myself with him again. I'd like to apologize to anyone who was hurt because of my actions."

She tried not looking at Selphie, who's face softened. Everyone else was silent. What could they say after that? They'd known who it had been directed towards anyway. Selphie suddenly smiled.

"On that note, you guys had a busy practice, so... let's go eat!"

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The mood was cheerful as they entered the castle. Ginny and Selphie were even laughing together about something. Squall noticed he had perked up a bit, but he figured it was because he wasn't freezing his ass off anymore. The only one who didn't seem to have a smile on their face was Hermione, who attempted to keep up a front but Squall saw right through it.

As the others made their way into the Great Hall, she motioned him off to the side. Squall was, honestly, surprised. If something was bothering her this bad, why would she come to _him_ first?

"Squall," she said quietly. "Did anybody say anything about my coming late?"

"Not really."

Hermione paused for a moment. "Rinoa and Seifer are going out, right?"

Squall held back a face. "Yeah."

Pause. Silence. Awkward silence. Hermione suddenly seemed resolved on something and continued, "Seifer tried to... rape me... this afternoon."

Looking down quickly, Hermione fell silent again. Squall's jaw literally dropped. "_What_? How?"

Hermione propped her back up against the stone wall and slid down as to sit against it. She kept her face averted from his. Squall hesitated before sitting next to her. "Hermione?" He felt he had to say something. There was a strange fury swelling up inside him. How could Seifer do that to her? And Rinoa? How could he hurt them like that? Of course he knew Hermione wasn't lying to him. He had figured out from the past few days Hermione would not lie about something like that. Something in him made him trust her more then he had ever trusted anyone else.

"Promise you won't say anything to anyone?" she spoke softly, still avoiding him.

"I promise." _It'd be nice if you told me a little more though. _Seifer!_ Fucking ass hole..._

"It's too crowded here," she said, noticing the growing hoards around them making their way to dinner. "But I want to talk to you about it. It's eating me up, especially because of Rinoa. If I told Ron or Harry... I don't know..."

Her eyes started looking watery. Squall wanted to comfort her, but he knew there would be way too many rumors going on about him if he did it right there. There was only one place he could think of that he would feel most comfortable at. He just hoped Irvine wasn't there.

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"Not hungry, my dears?" The Fat Lady asked as they approached.

"_Balamb_ _Garden_," was all Squall said. The woman had changed the password in honor of so many of the guests being in her house. She sighed and the portrait swung open.

The Common Room was quiet as they entered. Squall cautiously peered around, feeling he had to do so, to protect Hermione's privacy in some way. "Wait here," he said before stealing away up the stone steps. He flung open the door to the Boys' Dormitory and took a good look in. Thankfully, no giggles from behind closed curtains. In fact, no closed curtains at all. It was clearly empty.

He motioned for her to come upstairs. Hermione looked nervous as she came in and sat herself by the window. She gazed up through the ancient glass towards the sparkling night sky. Squall sat on his four-poster.

They were quiet for a few moments before Hermione said, "You know, it's really interesting how you all came here."

"I guess." _Small talk? Isn't she upset about Seifer?_

"I wonder, is your world somewhere out there? Or is it in a completely different universe?"

_Aren't you upset?_

"Don't know. Maybe we'll find that out," Squall replied.

They were quiet again.

"This afternoon was... strange," she said, suddenly looking at Squall. Her voice was wavering a little bit. "Everything's so confusing lately. It's hard for me when it's like this. So many things to think about... the only thing I can seem to find going right is that the Deatheaters and Voldemort have been pretty quiet. But even _that_'s something to worry over."

Squall tried to think of a response. He wanted to help her out, but he couldn't with her beating around the bush like this. He _knew_ it made her upset. Why couldn't she just talk about what happened? She seemed so eager to before.

Hermione looked outside again. "What happened today needs to be talked about. I don't know the situation with him where you come from, but we need to keep Seifer away from other girls. He can't do this to anyone else. Most other girls aren't as strong in their magical skills as I am. They might not be able to fend him off. What he tried doing...," she trailed off before continuing. "He needs to be stopped."

Squall nodded in agreement, even though she really wasn't looking. He went for it. "What happened?"

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"I won't make you late," Seifer said, with a slightly sinister grin. Hermione felt a lurch in her stomach at those words. She knew exactly what was going to happen if she didn't do something, and fast. But before she could even process what kind of curse to use against him, he forced her down hard on the couch with his strong arms and straddled himself over her small body. Hermione gave out a small cry as he pulled her up roughly so that her face was close to his. He forced his mouth on hers and shoved his tongue in. She struggled against him, but his hands were pressed firmly on her shoulders. She gave a hard bite down with her teeth. Seifer yelped in pain and flung his face away.

"You little bitch!" he yelled, smacking her across the face, his expression mixed of both anger and pain. He pulled her face up again by her hair, causing her to make another pain-filled noise, and sneered in her eyes, "I was gonna go easy on you, but now I'm going to fuck your brains out so hard you won't be able to walk for a week."

Hermione's mind and heart raced. What could she use? How could she do it? If she took out her wand, he'd know what she was doing. But she had to stop this.

Suddenly she remembered a rather difficult charm Professor Flitwick had let her do for extra credit once. It was during the Umbridge period, when it seemed the entire school had rallied against the "Headmaster". It was an attack charm that you could use without a wand, as long as it was in your pocket. Very useful in situations like this, when one might need it at a moment's notice. He had told her that many of the Aurors had to be trained in it for weeks, but she had been able to do it within a day. How did it go again?

Seifer buried his face in her neck, keeping his hands firmly planted on her. She stopped struggling against him as he sucked painfully hard, one because she knew it would do no good and two because she needed to concentrate.

"_Adrenalus Furios_!" she shouted in remembrance. Instantly, it seemed, Seifer was knocked to the floor on his back, writhing in some sort of intense pain. Hermione knew it would wear off in a few seconds, so she quickly jumped up, pointed her wand at his groin and shouted next, "_Penis Minimus_!"

Seifer stopped rolling around and instead grabbed his crotch and cried out. He sputtered words and whined like he was two. "_Petrificus Totalus_!" she shouted for the final time, and Seifer froze in the position he was in, hands-on-crotch, except his eyes could move. He watched her scathingly as she stepped gracefully over him, gave him a sweet smile and said, "There's a reason I'm Head Girl. This was it. Not because of what I'm sure you thought of, pervert."

She strode proudly to the door. "Oh, I'm sure you won't be mentioning to Malfoy how you were beat up by a mudblood."

And with that, she left for the Quidditch Pitch.

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Squall stared at her. She was now sitting next to him on the floor against his bed, her arms around her knees. "I wonder if Malfoy went back to the room yet?"

"Hmm," was all Squall could get out. _Hermione_ beat up _Seifer_? Seifer had actually tried raping her? She made Seifer's dick smaller? Squall had to smirk at that.

Hermione looked worriedly at him. "You don't think he'll tell Malfoy what happened, do you? Malfoy will tell _everybody_. And then it will get back to Rinoa..."

Squall looked at her reassuringly, trying not to laugh at what happened to Seifer. "Seifer won't let his own reputation get hurt like that. If anything, he'll just say you're evil and you attacked him out of nowhere."

Hermione gave him a small smile that quickly faded. "Oh, Squall... I can't believe him. And I can't believe Rinoa's his girlfriend. She seems so nice. He definitely doesn't deserve her."

Squall silently concurred. Rinoa... so defensive of her friends, of her beliefs... the way her hair flowed around her in the wind...

Hermione... so smart, so kind, so giving. The way she smiled and the way she made him want to spill his heart out.

Ugh... why were they both on his mind so much?

"Umm... Squall?" Hermione suddenly broke his thoughts.

"What?"

"Nothing. You just... spaced out again. Are you okay?"

_What kind of question is that?_

"I'm fine."

"Oh... okay. Hey, thanks for listening to me. It was bothering me all afternoon, but I think I'm better now."

Squall gave a quick nod. "Don't worry about it too much. Rinoa might not like you anymore, but I think that will be the only thing to come out of this. And your right; we should make sure Seifer is stopped."

Hermione looked at him. Squall felt a strange lurch and a little movement where he didn't expect it. His face grew hot and he looked up towards the window.

"Are you sure you're all right, Squall?" she asked him, laughing a little.

_No..._

She stood up and in front of his line of vision. She laughed again. "You're so indifferent. It's refreshing compared to Ron and Harry. They're so emotional about everything."

"I guess."

She sat back down again, right in front of him. He felt another wave of excitement but didn't turn away this time. They seemed to find themselves in a spontaneous staring contest, giving purposely funny looks to each other; Hermione squinting in a bitchy supermodel sort of way and Squall staring back at her as though to say "You're not as big of a deal as you think you are". Suddenly she broke it by looking down and giggled a bit. Quickly, she brought her face close to his and kissed him on the cheek, before jumping up and standing by the window, gazing out it again. After a moment of unblinking silence, she said, "Thanks again, Squall," before turning around and heading for the door. Squall knew it was now or never.

"Hermione, wait a second."

She hesitated before turning back around and giving him a slow smile.

"Yes?"

He walked over to her and, cradling her face in his calloused hands, gave her a deep kiss. "See you around," he whispered once they stopped, but she just grinned and kissed him again.


	13. Cozy

1Chapter 13: Cozy

Irvine gazed off at the lake from his spot underneath an old beech tree. He had a headache from thinking so much about the past few days. He really did care about Selphie... but he was young. He liked the ladies, almost as much as he liked his guns.

_Maybe I never should have messed around with Selphie_...

The sky was darkening quickly. Irvine thought he saw something move in the center of the lake but wrote it off to his nerves and the lack of sunlight. Soon the sky was sprinkled with thousands of stars and the lights of the castle glowed, their reflection on the flat glass lake. Irvine wasn't really thinking about anything anymore. He was nonchalant to everything; the darkness, the cold, the whole situation he had gotten himself into. The peace of nothingness had settled in, and he was actually pretty tired from the day's events. He knew he had to go back sometime, though, so he gathered himself up and headed back towards the castle.

The noise from the Great Hall was almost unbearable as he passed it on his way up the Grand Staircase. He wasn't hungry, nor did he care to see anyone in there at the moment. His head pounded as he entered the Common Room and he anxiously climbed the steps up to the Dormitory, wanting nothing more than to collapse on his bed.

He turned the door knob. Or rather, _tried_ turning the door knob. He'd never found it to be locked before. In fact, he didn't even think it could be locked, otherwise he would have locked it himself a few times already. He tried it again but it still wouldn't give. He gave up after about two seconds. _Whatever... too tired for this_. He resorted to one of the Common Room couches, all thoughts of the mysteriously locked door out of his mind.

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"Yay, wands tomorrow!" Selphie exclaimed. Zell and Quistis had joined their group at the Gryffindor table and they were talking about actually taking part in wizarding life. "So, do we get to pick out our own wands, or like, do they pick them out for us?"

Harry, Ron, and Ginny all looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm... well, for us, the man just kind of picked one out that he thought would fit us," Ginny answered. "But who knows what they'll do for you."

Harry looked as though he were struggling against saying something. "Yeah," was all he could seem to find.

Rinoa hardly listened. Her mind was on two people at the moment. Three, actually. First she wondered where Seifer could have gone and why he was practically ignoring her, seemingly since they came to Hogwarts. Then she thought about Squall and... Hermione? Her feelings for Squall were mixed. He still held some sort of place in her heart for their quick relationship, but for some reason she really wasn't interested in him other than as a friend. Or was she? What was it about him and Hermione that made her so interested about their growing close relationship? And where had they gone?

_Why do I even care_? _I'm the one who broke up with him. I have a boyfriend. And Hermione's sweet, so why_ should_ I care?_

Rinoa laughed as Ron said something so funny she didn't even really understand it, and soon forgot about the triangles she was finding herself in.

They were leaving the Great Hall a few minutes later when suddenly Seifer came sauntering down the stairs. He instantly spotted Rinoa in the crowd and made his way over.

"I'll see you guys later," she told the others. There was an array of looks but she chose to ignore them. Once they were alone, Seifer gave her a pathetic look.

"What's wrong?" she asked him with concern. He sighed.

"Something happened this afternoon I think you should know about," he said, taking her in his arms. "Can we go somewhere alone?"

"Of course. I think I know somewhere."

Rinoa walked with him to the Owlery, a place which she had been particularly interested in for some reason during the tour Hermione gave them. Rinoa had always loved animals, and the soft hoots and ruffles of the owls calmed her down when they entered the open-ceiling tower.

It was cold, and she instinctively cuddled up next to Seifer. He stood behind her, his arms wrapped around her torso. "What was it you wanted to tell me about?"

He nibbled softly at her ear. "Do you like that girl, Hermione?" he asked.

"She seems really nice. Why? What did she say to you?"

Seifer broke their position and faced her. "I don't want you talking to her anymore."

"What? Why? Please tell me, Seifer."

Seifer pursed his lips and looked down. "She's in love with me, you know."

Rinoa laughed nervously. "No, I don't."

Seifer looked her in the eyes, a sad look on his face. "She approached me today while I was alone in Malfoy's room. She couldn't keep her hands off me. She kept saying how she didn't care what you thought, that she would have me anyway," he said sleekily, caressing Rinoa's cheek. She gazed at him, her heart filling with the terror of another girl in Seifer's life.

"Didn't you stop her? Please tell me you stopped her," Rinoa replied, tears coming to her eyes. How could Hermione be so cruel? She had trusted her, despite that she'd only known the witch for a few days.

"I tried. I told her no, that I had a girlfriend who I loved very much. But she didn't want to hear any of it. She said she had to go somewhere, to a practice or something, but told me I would get what I deserved. Then she performed some kind of spell, and now..." Seifer trailed off dramatically.

"What? What happened?" Tears were now rolling down Rinoa's cheeks. "What did she do to you?"

Seifer looked purposely down at his pants.

Rinoa's eyes widened. Her hands instantly went there, but there was nothing to feel. She screamed.

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"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

Hermione was sitting against Squall's chest in the window seat, and they were gazing out the window, moonlight bathing them.

"A whole flock of owls flew out of the Owlery, just over there," Hermione pointed to an odd shaped tower that was just visible from the Boys' Dormitory.

"Oh," replied Squall, rubbing his face against her neck. She smelled so sweet. Hermione giggled.

"Stop. That tickles," she laughed, writhing away from him. They found themselves in another kiss. Suddenly there was a loud BANG BANG BANG at the door.

"Alohomora!" came Harry's voice from the other side. Suddenly the magic lock that had kept the pair away from everyone else gave a small click and Harry opened the door. He stood, gaping at the cozy Hermione and Squall. Ron peeked over his head and saw too.

"The bloody hell?" he asked, bursting in and pushing Harry out of the way so hard he fell to his knees. "_Hermione_?"

"Yes, Ron?"

Ron turned a beet red and said quietly, "Girls aren't supposed to be up here."

She slipped off the window seat and said with a grin, "That never stopped Harry last year when he was with Ginny."

She turned back to Squall and said, "See you tomorrow at breakfast," before leaving for her own dormitory. Squall gave a small wave and out she went. Harry brought himself to his feet and his eyes followed her out. He faced Squall. "_You_ and _Hermione_?"

Squall gave a reluctant nod. Normally he would have just ignored it, but he felt a happiness he hadn't felt since Rinoa. Besides, this Hogwarts place really wasn't so bad.

"I don't believe it!" Ron exclaimed, looking down at his hands. "Since when did Hermione stop _telling _us about this stuff?"

"She's never really talked about other guys to us," Harry answered simply. Looking back at Squall, he said, "Congratulations, mate. She's a good girl. Just don't hurt her."

"Or else!" said Ron, looking up and actually laughed. Harry joined.

"Yeah, or else."

Squall, for the first time since he got there, laughed along with them. Soon he launched into a whole series of questions for them having to do with the research project, finding a new passion for it that he obviously didn't have before. The inquisitions went late into the night, even after Seamus, Dean, and Neville arrived, and even once they all settled into bed around two, Squall's mind was still swimming with all the events of that day.


	14. The Shadow of the Past

1Chapter 14: The Shadow of the Past

A/N: Yes, yes, I know I'm jacking a chapter title from Sir Tolkein, but it seemed to fit well. hides behind awesome fanfic as LoTR fans pummel with large stones

The Girls Dormitory was silent except for Selphie's light snoring, which Rinoa had gotten used to during the fight against Ultimecia. Rinoa knew the other girls must be asleep by now, but she couldn't help but be awake after what Seifer had told her. Hermione had gone behind her back and tried to get it with him? Something in Rinoa almost told her not to believe it, but why shouldn't she trust Seifer? She knew lots of other people regarded him as arrogant and dishonest, but she saw a different side of him than everyone else.

She remembered back to the summer when she was sixteen, a mere six months before joining the Forest Owls. Her father was on special assignment from President Deling to the small seaside town of Balamb, and because her mother had died only a few weeks earlier, Rinoa went with him to escape all the painful memories she was experiencing. She could picture it all clearly now...

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Rinoa sat at the edge of one of the docks in Balamb, her bare toes skimming the crystalline water. It was a warm day, but not too hot. The salty sea breeze felt relaxing on her face. _I'm glad Dad wasn't assigned to the Shumi Village like General Tarragon_.

Suddenly the peacefulness of the docks was broken with a loud _crash_.

"IDIOT," a monotonous female voice said loudly.

"Help me clean all this up, will ya, Fujin?" someone else, a boy, replied. Rinoa didn't want to be rude and stare, but she couldn't resist taking a glance at the disrupters of her afternoon.

There were three other kids her age, one girl and two guys. The girl wore a blue suit and an eye patch (_Strange_, Rinoa thought), and her short hair was a shiny silver. In front of her was the guy who must have spoken, because he was kneeling on the cement picking up buckets and fishing poles. Behind both of them, leaning against a flag pole, was a tall boy in a white trench coat. Rinoa held her gaze on him for longer then she had expected to. She made herself turn back to her feet.

"NO. ASK SEIFER."

"Pick it up yourself," the second guy said coolly. "You're the one who wanted to go fishing on our day off."

There was some rummaging, and then Rinoa heard their approaching footsteps. They walked right by her as they went to the very end of the dock. After a few minutes of setting up, Rinoa heard the first boy speak again.

"Yeah! First cast-off of the summer!"

_SWISH._

Suddenly Rinoa felt herself being pulled up by the back collar of her blue jumper, and she was flung upwards by the hook. She screamed wildly with surprise and horror as she landed in the water.

The force of her landing sent her down several feet. It was dark down here, and she was shocked by what had just happened. So shocked that she actually didn't try surfacing for a few seconds. All of a sudden she realized what was happening and she scrambled through the water towards the surface, but each time she flung her arms and legs about she seemed to be getting nowhere. She kept trying and struggling. After a little while, she couldn't say how long, her body couldn't stand it any longer and her limbs floated limply at her sides. _Must breathe... ... ... ... ... ..._

As she floated out of consciousness, Rinoa vaguely felt herself being lifted upwards.

She awoke with someone's mouth on hers. She coughed and the person lifted their head up. After her vision became clear again, she was looking into the face of the guy in the white trench coat, Seifer. The other two kids were on either side of him, the boy who had cast the line staring at her with fear and extreme apology. "Hey," Seifer said. "Are you alright?"

Rinoa gave him a weak smile. "I am now."

"I'm so sorry, lady. So sorry, ya know? I didn't even realize youse were back there. I didn't know I was that strong," the other guy sputtered quickly.

"It's alright. I'm fine now," Rinoa smiled at him, trying to sit up. But Seifer wouldn't let her.

"Rest a little bit," he said, holding her shoulder down. Suddenly she realized he must have been the one to pull her up, as he was dripping wet.

"Thank you... Seifer," Rinoa told him, closing her eyes. She felt his hand linger on her shoulder.

"Anytime."

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Rinoa smiled at her memories. She had almost died, and Seifer saved her. He had given Raijin a good beating after that.

Her mind soon loafed back to the present. He wouldn't lie to her about something like that. It was that simple. Rinoa didn't know how she was to face Hermione the next morning.

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Squall sat at the Gryffindor table between Irvine and Hermione the next morning at breakfast when suddenly owls began swooping into the Great Hall. He had already witnessed this over the last few days and knew it was just the mail delivery, but he hadn't sat next to Hermione yet. So this was the first time he saw what wizards actually _got_ in the mail. A light brown owl dropped a newspaper right on top of Hermione's pancakes, and then perched itself on the edge of the orange juice carafe, staring pointedly at her. She dropped a little copper piece (which she had told Squall was called a "knut") into a sack fastened to its leg. It gave a hoot of thanks and flew away.

Hermione picked up the newspaper and unrolled it. _So this is what _The Daily Prophet _is_, Squall thought, answering his own question from yesterday. Her eyes widened when she read the front page.

"Muggles Permitted for the First Time at Hogwarts!" she read aloud, and Ron slammed his glass on the table and Harry dropped his toast. Squall, Irvine, and Selphie, who were all close enough to hear her, perked up too. They knew this had to do with them.

"What? How did they find out?" Harry asked mainly to himself as Hermione laid the paper flat so they could all see. There was the blaring headline, with a moving picture underneath it of Selphie, Quistis, Rinoa, Irvine, and Zell smiling broadly in front of the castle. In the picture, the three girls stood front and center with their arms around each other, giving the camera wide smiles and looking at each other every now and then and giggling. Irvine and Zell stood behind them, Zell grinning broadly and giving the camera a thumbs up and Irvine looking from the side, to the camera, to down Selphie's dress. Selphie laughed in real life.

"That was us on the tour last week! When that Colin kid saw us outside and wanted a picture."

But no one else was laughing. "I can't believe this," Harry spat. "These bastards will do anything for a story. I'm sure Malfoy had something to do with this."

"Let me read it," Hermione said.

**HOGSMEADE (FRIDAY)- **Despite several Ministry-imposed codes, the Administration of Hogwarts is up to it again with defying the Minister, _writes Percy Weasley, Special Ministry Correspondent_. Apparently, several "Muggles" are currently residing among the students of Hogwarts, refuting the centuries-old "myth" that Hogwarts is completely invisible to Muggles. "That's not the only problem," a ministry insider told _The Daily Prophet_. "The fact that these Muggles can see Hogwarts means they must be under an advanced spell, which tells us that whoever at Hogwarts is responsible for this is also defying the International Confederation of Wizards' Statute of Secrecy."

_The Daily Prophet_ was unable to reach Professor Minerva McGonagall, who is currently serving as Headmistress until a proper one is appointed, for comment, but the Minister of Magic had several words for her.

"By Merlin, something will be done about this. The school cannot continue to run the the way it has been the past few years. A similar system that was put into place two years ago, when Ms. Dolores Umbridge replaced then Headmaster Dumbledore for a short time, is being looked into. We must keep our community safe from outsiders of any kind."

Previous Headmaster Albus Dumbledore died last June after allegedly being hexed by resident Potions Master Severus Snape. Professor Snape continues to instruct students at Hogwarts.

_Picture provided by Mr. Colin Creevey of Hogwarts_.

Related Articles: "Is Diagon Alley Next?" "Squibs: Should they be allowed the same rights as you and me?" "Mixing with the wrong crowd... again: Harry Potter and the Outsiders"

"Argh!" Ron exclaimed, pounding the table. "That prat!"

"Percy _Weasley_? Is he related to you?" Selphie asked him. Ron rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, but now he's a Ministry bitch, so he doesn't talk to my family anymore," he answered with disgust. "I can't believe they're getting involved in this."

"Yeah, and having the _Daily Prophet_ spread lies again. One, there is_ no_ spell that can make Muggles be able to see magically protected places, and two, _we_ know you're not Muggles," Hermione said, putting the paper down and looking at the three "outsiders". "I wonder what the Minister means by 'a similar system' like two years ago?"

"I doubt they'll bring Umbridge back," said Harry. "I think the Forbidden Forest scarred her for life."

He and Hermione laughed at that. Ron stared hard down at his breakfast. Selphie turned to Squall and Irvine and looked at them with big frightened eyes. "You don't think they'll try taking us away from here, do you, Squall?"

Squall wasn't sure at first how to answer. After all, he had no idea what kind of powers these Ministry people held, and he knew from personal experience that fighting strength wasn't always enough to ward someone off. _There's always the portal back to Garden_, he thought, but a pang of guilt swept over him as he glanced at Hermione. He'd only known her for a few days, and he wanted to know her for more.

"Squall?" Selphie waved in front of his face. He snapped back to reality.

"If we need to, we could always take the portal back home," he said almost instantly. Her expression saddened even more at that.

"I guess."

The bell rang signaling the end of breakfast. Hermione turned to them sullenly and said, "You guys better go the Front Gates now. They're probably already waiting for you."

"Okay," Selphie replied, clearly bummed out. As they walked out of the Great Hall, Squall saw Irvine motion Selphie off to the side. He left them alone and looked at Hermione. She seemed to be avoiding him.

"What class are you going to?" he asked her.

"Ancient Runes."

"Oh."

They walked together until they were in front of the Grand Staircase, where he and Hermione seemed to halt abruptly. "Good luck today," she said, looking a little nervous about something. "Be sure not to talk to anyone you don't know, unless McGonagall introduces them, alright?"

Squall gave her a nod. "I guess I'll see you later."

Hermione's expression soured somewhat. "Yeah. _I guess_."

And with that she practically ran up the stairs. Squall turned around abruptly, knowing what this had to be about and wondering why girls had to be so sensitive about everything.

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Hermione had barely made it to the second floor when out of nowhere Rinoa appeared in front of her. Hermione, still upset with Squall as she had just talked to him two seconds ago, greeted with a quick, "Oh, hello, Rinoa."

"Hi," she replied, her arms crossed. She formed a sort of road block with her body which Hermione couldn't seem to pass. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Umm... I need to get to class," Hermione attempted. "And I think they're waiting for you by-"

"What's this about you trying to get with Seifer?" Rinoa interrupted. Hermione's mouth dropped.

"_Excuse me_?"

"You heard me," Rinoa snapped. "What makes you think you could fuck around with _my_ boyfriend!"

By this time, thanks to the unraveling scene and _The Daily Prophet_ article, people stared at the two as they walked by.

Hermione tried to remain calm. She couldn't believe what Seifer must have told Rinoa. "Rinoa," she said, holding back all the swelling anger she could, "You can trust me when I tell you I swear I would _never_ want to be with Seifer. Please-"

"So you're saying I can't trust him, is that it? That I should listen to some snotty know-it-all over my boyfriend of a year and a half!"

Rinoa was gone, and Hermione knew it. Something else had caught her attention in that last statement, though.

_But... wait a second... a year and a half? Wasn't there was that break in there? ... He told me about it last night... when Rinoa was together with him after their fight against the Sorceress..._

Hermione's mind swung back to the here and now. Rinoa was glaring, her face a bright red, waiting for an answer. _Better not say anything._

She took a deep breath, and said, "I'm not asking you to prove loyalty to anyone, Rinoa. But I don't think you should assume everything you're told to be the truth."

Rinoa seemed to be at a loss for words. Hermione took the opportunity to walk away.


	15. The Muggle World

1Chapter 15: The Muggle World

A/N: Okay, I have to say this now... I've never been to London, so I really have no idea as to how their subway system works or anything like that. What I've written is only based on my experiences on the trains in Japan. But I'm guessing subways and trains works pretty much the same everywhere, so I shouldn't be too far off :-D. Enjoy!

Selphie looked as though she had forgotten what Squall had said as she stared out their compartment window. They were on the Hogwarts Express heading towards London, whatever London was. Supposedly, as McGonagall had told them before seeing them off at the Hogsmeade station, the Hogwarts Express ran all the time, but that its busiest days were the ends and beginnings of school holidays. She told them that it had been decided it was safest for them to travel on the Express, which would take them straight into London, where they could then travel "unobtrusively". Squall was unsure what all this meant but decided not to question it.

Rinoa sat across from him, looking as though she were pouting about something. Quistis, who was next to her, was busy snapping photos of the blurry countryside they were passing, and taking notes. Zell sat on the other side of her, his head against the wall and his eyes closed. Irvine sat on Squall's other side, looking as though he didn't want to be bothered. They were all silent. _And they get mad at _me_ for being melancholy_, Squall thought.

"It looks just like the Balamb countryside," Selphie suddenly spoke. "I wonder how that works?"

"Interesting," Quistis replied, making another note. Squall read upside down: "10:06 AM- Selphie remarks how similar our countryside and their countryside is".

There was a light knock on the door. Irvine leaned over and slid it open to reveal a girl with a heart-shaped face and short pink hair, who had introduced herself at Hogsmeade as Tonks. "Hello," she greeted. "We'll be there in a few minutes. Any questions before we get off the train?"

They all looked quietly at her. "Alright," she said cheerily before leaving them.

Silence swept the compartment again. Suddenly the door slid open and Seifer sauntered in, back from the bathroom or wherever he had gone (Squall didn't remember nor did he care). He gave an evil grin to Squall before squeezing himself between Rinoa and Quistis. Quistis gave him a dirty look that he didn't catch, and Zell was woken up but quickly fell back asleep. Seifer put his arm around Rinoa and said softly, "Did you talk to her?"

"What do you think?" Rinoa snapped back quietly, quickly glancing at Squall.

"And...?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Squall pretended he was looking at the floor. He would have been stupid not to know what they were talking about. Quistis looked cautiously at them but didn't say anything. The rest of the ride was spent in relative quiet once again, until they started pulling into the city.

"It's so... big," Selphie remarked as they all huddled around the window.

"Hey... they don't wear cloaks here," Rinoa said as they pulled into the station. "All the girls wear... pants...?"

The train came to a sudden stop, which surprised all of them as they toppled over each other, even though they were seasoned train travelers. "King's Cross!" they heard a man shout.

Tonks came back to their compartment. "Good day, everyone," she smiled brightly. "Here we are in London. We'll actually be traveling Muggle-style so as not to attract too much attention. I'll have to ask all of you to keep quiet about the Magical World until we get to Diagon Alley."

They nodded.

"I'd like to explain before we go about my own special talent," she continued as they gathered their things and began walking out. "I was born with the ability to transform my appearance instantly, which makes me a Metamorphmagus. So, for safety purposes, I will appear different than I do now while we are traveling through London."

And with that, she blinked and suddenly her hair was a sleek dark brown and reached down her back. Her body was as sleek as her hair, and her face perfectly sculpted in every way. She was wearing an outfit that looked extremely expensive. "Shall we?" she asked. Irvine stared at her with his mouth open. The others looked stunned, except for Seifer, who looked bored. "Yes," he answered.

Tonks smiled at them. "Okay! Let's go!"

As they stepped out of the train, they couldn't help but gaze all around them. There were people of all ages around, wizards obviously, carrying various items (Owls, screaming plants, etc). There were pops here and there as people appeared or disappeared. Tonks led them to a large brick pillar with a sign that said "Platform 9 ¾" on it. She stopped to face them. "Now, I know this is going to sound strange, but I need each of you to have the confidence to run straight through this brick wall."

"Oh, like we came through the mirror?" Zell asked. Tonks looked quizzical for a moment before realizing what he meant and nodding.

"Yes, exactly how you came through the mirror, only this time the magic has been done for you. Now you don't need to buddy-up, but you're welcome to if you want. Who's first?"

Squall felt himself be pushed slightly from behind and turned to see Irvine giving him a big grin and thumbs up. Rinoa and Quistis laughed. Seifer smirked. "I am," Squall gave in.

"Good. And your name is...?"

"Squall Leonhart."

"Alright. Now, everybody stand back and give Squall some room to run."

Everyone, except for Squall, made a semi-circle around the pillar. Tonks gave him a nod and Squall returned it with a slight grimace before he resolved to run at the wall. It was his duty as Assistant Leader, after all.

He half expected to crack his head as he quickly approached the bricks, and was surprised somewhat after he realized he had appeared on the other side. Suddenly he was in a high-ceilinged train station, this one a lot more crowded and full of people wearing even different clothes then the ones at King's Cross. Or was this still King's Cross? The whole thing confused Squall so much he was starting to get a headache. It reminded him too much of time compression and being lost in the sands of time, literally. _But that's really what this whole thing is. Only it's dimension compression_.

As he turned around to face the pillar, Selphie and Irvine charged out of the bricks together. Squall wondered why the other people in the station weren't freaking out as much as he wanted to. When everyone finally came out, Tonks gathered them all together and said in a clear voice, "Welcome to London. On our walking tour today we will be taking the Tube to a famous pub, called the Leaky Cauldron. Any questions so far?"

They all looked at her confusedly. Squall figured this out to be some kind of trick to anyone who might be listening. He had worked out over the last few days that the wizarding world and the "Muggle" world rarely mixed, and that in fact non-magical people hardly had any idea that wizards existed. The others seemed to know this too, and they nodded at her. But Zell had to ask the next question, even at the possibility of sounding stupid to the Muggles. "The Tube?" he asked. Tonks leaned over and whispered, "It like a train that runs underground. Muggles use it all the time."

And with that, they began walking towards the "Tube" or "Underground". "Escalators!" Quistis remarked as they stepped aboard, progressing downward. "I've only seen these in Deling City."

Tonks bought them all tickets with "Muggle money", and they walked through push-gates that were just like the ones in their own rail stations. As they walked to their platform, the train swept in, causing Selphie to jump back. Tonks laughed. "Trains don't move this fast back home," Selphie explained, seeming nervous to walk into the car when the doors slid open. Tonks led the way in. The car was crowded, so they had to stand up and hold onto strange triangular hangers. They were all pretty quiet, new to this weird, fast-paced world. Squall knew everyone else must be quiet because they didn't want to cause an incident of some kind by talking about the wrong thing. Suddenly Selphie leaned over and whispered to Squall, "You think we should have brought our weapons, just in case?"

Squall looked around for a moment before shaking his head. "I think that would have only caused more trouble."

She agreed with a nod and Squall was back to his thoughts. He peered around the subway car. Most of the people were wearing clean-cut clothes with neat black jackets and ties and carrying what looked like small suitcases. There was an older woman sitting in a seat closest to the door. Suddenly his eyes fell on a group of about four younger teenagers, who were practically gaping at his group. Squall looked away and tried to listen to what they were saying.

"... must be a cosplay convention somewhere..."

"Look at their outfits! They're so realistic."

"I know! And they're all in a group! Look, Seifer and Rinoa are actually _acting_ like a couple!"

"Where's her whip? A good Quistis always has her whip..."

Squall was taken back by this. _They know our names?_ He glanced at his comrades. No one else seemed to be listening. "Train, train, take us away," Selphie sang softly to herself.

He wanted badly to say something to them, but Tonks whisked them off at the next station before he had a chance. With a whoosh, the train was gone, along with the fascinated kids. Squall wished more then ever that he would wake up any moment and be back in his dormitory in Garden. All these strange things were confusing him too much.

They walked for a few blocks. Quistis was taking pictures left and right, scribbling in her journal every now and then. Selphie grasped her arm around Irvine's, and they both gawked at everything around them. Rinoa and Seifer lagged behind, quietly arguing. Zell trotted happily along next to Squall, who couldn't help but notice a few odd glances from other teenagers and people here and there. He suddenly shivered, jealous of the girls and Zell, who had all been smart enough to bring coats.

"I can't believe where we _are_," Zell said to him.

"Hmm," Squall replied.

"What's the matter with you? Aren't you at all amazed?"

"I guess."

Zell rolled his eyes. Suddenly Tonks stopped, and Squall noticed they were in front of an old, average-looking shop with a sign that said "The Leaky Cauldron". "We're here!" she announced. She lowered her voice for what she said next. "Just act normal and follow me round back. Greet back to anyone who greets you but take the conversation no further. I'm sure most of you know that the papers have already got a story on you, but we mustn't encourage it by talking to the press. Alright then, let's go get you some wands."

She transformed back to her normal self as they walked inside. The pub was dingy and very unimpressive. Many people hardly noticed the outsiders walking through, as they read magazines or chatted quietly with friends. Squall noticed some had copies of _The Daily Prophet. _An older man from behind the bar hobbled over to them. "Good day," he said suspiciously. "Might I inquire of your business at me Pub?"

Tonks turned to him and said cheerily, "Hullo, Tom. We're on special assignment from Dumbledore. Hogwarts business. Just making our way to the Alley."

He looked unconvinced but said nothing as he nodded and went back behind the bar. Tonks led them out a back door and they were in a small garden area, where she tapped the brick wall in a pattern that was known only to her. Suddenly the bricks whirled open like some magical portal and revealed a crowded street with many small shops. She faced them again, smiled, and said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley."


End file.
